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Original poster

Alphamummies - how many do you know personally?

130 replies

Anna8888 · 28/06/2007 10:43

For the sake of this thread, I'll define alphamummy with a pretty loose definition.

  • works full-time and earns over £100 K
  • married with husband working full-time and earning over £100 K
  • at least two children who have got as far as secondary school without any hiccups
  • no career breaks, divorces

How many women do you know personally (school friend, university friend, colleague, family member, neighbour) who have been doing the alphamummy thing for at least 11 years?

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UnquietDad · 28/06/2007 10:44

Are there also Beta and Gamma mummies?

And daddies?

WaynettaSpice · 28/06/2007 10:45

I love the fact that an alpha mummy HAD to have a husband......

WaynettaSpice · 28/06/2007 10:45

sorry HAS

Interested in this thread?

Then you might like threads about these subjects:

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Bibis · 28/06/2007 10:45

none

I know quite a lot of 'yummy mummies' though, with husbands who earn well over £100k.

I'm definitely not a yummy mummy.

Original poster
Anna8888 · 28/06/2007 10:46

We'll deal with the betas, gammas on a later thread.

OP posts:
Original poster
Anna8888 · 28/06/2007 10:46

Waynetta - it's a media definition and I've been quite "light"

OP posts:
Whoooosh · 28/06/2007 10:47

None-and I think I count myself lucky!

Original poster
Anna8888 · 28/06/2007 10:47

Thanks, bibis.

Do you want to start a "how many yummy mummies do you know" thread?

OP posts:
Hathor · 28/06/2007 10:49

I don't know how much anyone earns. I know how nice they are though.

Original poster
Anna8888 · 28/06/2007 10:51

OK, let's add in "nice" to the list of criteria.

OP posts:
throckenholt · 28/06/2007 10:51

none.

Oblomov · 28/06/2007 10:51

None. Hardly missing out am I ?

WaynettaSpice · 28/06/2007 10:55

let's look at this objectively....the majority of 100K plus workers are probably in the South East, so it would therefore follow that the majority of alphamummies would be in the South East.....so therefore those who know alphamummies would probably tend to be in the SE.....and people in the SE acocunt for only a portion of the MNetters, so I am guessing that there are going to only a few who do.

I still don't see the point in categorising though...

foxinsocks · 28/06/2007 10:55

I dunno - I reckon 3, maybe 4, maybe a few more. I have no idea what other occupations earn so I'm only guessing.

pollyanna · 28/06/2007 10:56

I don't think any of the mothers at my dcs (private) school work. If they do, it is very part time or in voluntary work. (I work part time and am very much in the minority)

When I lived in London (I moved last August) there were maybe 4 mothers who were very high powered out of a class of 30, all still married, one had was married to a sahd though. The other 2 were married to FT working fathers, but I don't know if the fathers earned above £100k as I don't know what their jobs were.

When I worked in the City there were lots of alphamummies, but I didn't see the mummying side of their lives, just the working side.

Why do you want to know?

UnquietDad · 28/06/2007 10:57

Do you people actually KNOW how much everybody you meet earns? There seems to be an unhealthy obsession with it on here.

Original poster
Anna8888 · 28/06/2007 10:57

Waynetta - the point is that the media/society sometimes portrays alphamummies as an ideal to aspire to. So I'm interested in knowing how many we here on MN can identify in real life.

OP posts:
Lilymaid · 28/06/2007 10:57

My boss - for 20 years

Quattrocento · 28/06/2007 10:59

I mean I do know a few according to the terms you have laid out. The people I know tend to have primary school age children or pre-schoolers because of my age. But I do know a few, largely because of my workplace environment.

The thing I don't get is why you want to know?

foxinsocks · 28/06/2007 10:59

do they (the press I mean)? I'm not sure it's portrayed that way - I certainly don't read it like that.

Quattrocento · 28/06/2007 11:00

Is the point you are making that they are rare? They are rare. It's not an easy thing to do.

Original poster
Anna8888 · 28/06/2007 11:02

Quattrocento - I used to know lots and lots myself, but they've all "dropped out" (for want of a better term) as their children have got older.

My partner still has one former colleague who just about fits the bill - VC with four children. Husband is only part-time vet though.

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Quattrocento · 28/06/2007 11:03

I reckon I could get to ten pretty easily with school age children. Have eliminated the ones with pre-schoolers. Yes there is a high attrition rate.

foxinsocks · 28/06/2007 11:06

there's plenty round here (London).

there are even more couples who both work full time but don't earn £100k each I reckon (not that I'd know, but at a guess).

I still don't really get what you are on about. I don't think society portrays that image as something to aspire to. On the other hand, I really don't think there's anything wrong in admiring someone who has done particularly well in their career, whether it earns them £100k or not iyswim.

Original poster
Anna8888 · 28/06/2007 11:06

Quattrocento - so, given that we agree that it's an incredibly hard ideal to live up to (and you and I are talking from personal experience), do you think it is healthy for that lifestyle to be portrayed as an ideal?

I read American Vogue (professional reasons, have done for years) and I have been quite interested recently in their portrayal of women. Much less "do it all simultaneously" and much more "do it all sequentially" as an ideal. That's a change versus a few years back.

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