The Reality Of The ‘Slummy Mummy!’

In repsonse to Anna May Mangan of the Daily Fail …I mean Mail.

You can read her diatribe of judgement here…

Boastful blogs about idyllic lifestyles and ‘perfect’ parenting are going out of fashion.

Thank fuck.

Piss off, Gwyneth Paltrow, with your kale and your weird vag steaming (true story…).

As a new mum, I praise the bleedin’ heavens for the likes of Samantha Hall, Katie Kirby of ‘Hurrah for Gin’, Sarah Turner of ‘The Unmumsy Mum’ etc. ‘Slummy mummies’, in the eyes of a select few.

They keep it real. They offer a true, uncorrupted insight into mum life. Their blogs bring myself, and legions of other mummies, back to planet earth with a pep in our step and a smile on our pallid, exhausted faces.

They are, in essence, so fucking relateable that I want to reach through my computer screen and give these cracking women a huge squeeze.

Because let’s face it, being a woman comes hand-in-hand with insane amounts of pressure; add motherhood into the mix and it can become overwhelming to the extreme.

These mummy bloggers, who promote and cast light on the world of the ‘slummy mummy’, are a breath of fresh air and a breakthrough.

Anna May Mangan, you missed the point entirely with your attempt to draw negative attention to us ‘slummy mummies’.

You missed the humour. You missed the passion. You missed the entire point of what these women do for other women.

These women make struggling mummies cry with laughter instead of crying with shame and exhaustion. They make struggling mummies feel validated. They remove the isolation and loneliness that struggling mummies often feel.

WHAT EVEN IS A SLUMMY MUMMY?!

A derogatory term used to judge other mums for not being perfect, and for not faking it until they make it!

Going by your article, this is how you’d define a slummy mummy;

Feeding a child frozen food; fish fingers being prime example.
Enjoying a bevvie – or a gin.
Being honest and candid about the ups and downs of parenthood.
Having no ‘shame’ about breastfeeding and not covering up.
Documenting the everyday battles, triumphs and tribulations to show other mums that it’s ok to not be ‘perfect’.
Swearing.
NOT BEING AFRAID TO TALK ABOUT THE ABOVE.

Yeah, I put my hands up, by your standards I am a slummy mummy.

But I love my son. He is clean. He is well fed with healthy food (because fish fingers aren’t the only element of a child’s diet…), he has new clothes, new toys, intellectual stimulation and is meeting all of his milestones early.

You cannot judge someones parenting by your arbitrary standards!

There are a million and one other factors that can impact someones parenting!

In essence, your article is pretentious, holier than thou and quite frankly full of shit.

The Truth of the Slummy Mummy…

…is that we are literally just normal women, struggling to juggle motherhood with the trials and tribulations of everyday life.

It’s not that we aren’t trying.

It’s not like we don’t care.

The difference is, that while you put on a front (because we all have our battles), we choose not to.

Not to brag, not to make twats of ourselves; to normalise and make light of the fact that being a mum is bloody hard work! To show other mums that they’re normal and that they are not alone.

Slummy?

Scummy?

Nope. Normal.

You state that ‘the children of these resentful, gin-soaked mothers — who are, in reality, educated middle-class authors — are actually very well cared for, enjoy organic fruit and vegetables and sleep in clean pyjamas…‘

Erm.. ok…

Class bears no relevance on the struggle we face as mummies. Implying that these authors are trying to portray a ‘lower’ class is actually pretty offensive.

Slummy mummies still feed their kids fruit (not organic in this house because it’s a marketing gimmick), put their kids in clean clothes and enjoy a gin.

You’re stating that these mummy bloggers are bullshitting for likes – true or not, you’re ignorant to the fact that these are real issues faced by real mummies.

You miss the point entirely.

You state that to be a slummy mummy is bordering on neglectful…

Like I said above, there are a million and one factors that can impact someones parenting. Struggling and neglect are not synonymous. What about the high flying ‘Type A’ women who employ an army of staff to raise their offspring? I’m not saying they’re neglectful but it could be argued otherwise.

Your article smacked of ‘Sactimommy’; negative vibes aplenty, judgement heaped on mothers who don’t even waste a second to portray perfection.

You call it ‘dimwitted narcissism’; we call it R E A L I T Y.

You call it a ‘feverish mockery of motherhood’; we call it finding the humour in difficult times.

No longer is it fashionable to put on a brave face, build a fake front of confidence and pretend that you don’t have a trusty backup back of fish fingers in your fucking freezer.

Because fish fingers make mums shit, don’t they Anna?

Stop taking yourself so bleedin’ seriously.

Loosen the reins, crack open the gin, and make yourself a fish finger sandwich.

Slummy mummy fodder is actually pretty tasty. I’m sure your kids would agree.

Love from Katie! xx