Are you part of it, do you do the school run(way)?

Is it a fashion catwalk on your schoolrun? The newspapers and glossy magazines constantly covers stylish celebrity mums on the school run in and around London. Are supermodels and yummy mummy’s really turning the school gate into a catwalk?

There’s even blogs covering school gate style, like schoolgatestyle.com I admire her fashion sense, but would hesiate to call her a Yummy Mummy as I think it’s degrading. She looks great, so good for her! Hope her apparent interest in fashion doesn’t make other mums at her school feel bad or as Slummy Mummies.

Fiona Neill, author and journalist for The Times Magazine, is the creator of the hugely popular ‘Slummy Mummy’ column. She also wrote the novel ‘The Secret Life of a Slummy Mummy’, an international bestseller. The Slummy Mummy story follows the life of a woman who simply can’t keep up with the societies expectation to family life and motherhood. As many mothers are faced with unrealistic goals, a new anti-hero was born, with the Slummy Mummy. But in a 2007 review of the novel, American author and journalist Katie Roiphe attracted criticism by posing the question, “But ladies, let’s be honest, is it that hard? Aren’t there some things on earth that are harder (than being a mother)?”
The novel Slummy Mummy features the stereotypes Alpha Mum, Slummy Mummy and Sexy Domesticated Dad. There’s no trying my best and “Sometimes I Fail and sometime I Succeed Mum”. And there’s certainly no Slummy or “Saggy Daddy” in the story. Why does it have to be so black and white? And why are women so hard on themselves -and on other women?
I can’t help to agree with Ms Roiphe, with her words putting things into perspective. As mothers we need to be the best mums that we can be, and also less judgemental of others. We owe it to our family and to ourselves, not only to be a wonderful mother but also to live our life as a woman. I think the fall of the Slummy Mummy (or Alphamum and Yummy Mummy for that matter) concept would have been complete if we became more interested in other things than perfect unrealistic motherhood. I think we would probably feel a lot more relaxed and happy by focusing more on our interest and our society rather than the unhealthy and competitive school gate fashion parade.

When that’s said I will continue wearing heels and my designer bags to school. Not because I’m striving to become a Yummy Mummy. But because that’s my style, that’s how I feel comfortable, that’s who I am.