Kindered spirits

I remember when I was younger how much importance I attached to having friends that were kindered spirits and it seems as you get older the less likely you are to come accross these people. Or I that's how I feel anyway. I suppose what I like about kindered spirits is you don't have to go explaining or justifying why you think a certain way or hold certain values. Fortunately I married a kindered spirit, and have also had the pleasure to work with a couple over the last few years.

This got me thinking though. I'd invited friends round for dinner on Saturday night, and we always have a laugh and shoot the breeze and stuf, it's all very nice. Few bottles of wine and some good food on what was a really miserable weekend otherwise due to a typhoon in the vicinity. We know eachother through our kids, which I think is par for the course when you become a parent.

For some reason I do tend to be a little bit reserved in my opinions of late. I either don't want to appear arrogant or perhaps it's due to the lack of the social lubricant I would normally be buoyed with. There always seem to be a few subjects I know I am never going to agree on so I just think I should not bother expressing my opinion. The first, funnily enough, is all to do with motherhood. I should be shot because:

1. I enjoy my work and don't want to be a stay at home mum.

2. I don't want to take an extra six months unpaid maternity leave so I can hang out with all the yummy mummies and go to baby yoga and kindermusik while bitching that my husband spends too long at work/on his Blackberry.

3. In all honesty, if it made no difference whatsoever, I probably wouldn't attempt to breastfeed. I am going to do a month or two like I did with Nuala, much to the open disdain of my friends (one of whom is still breastfeeding at 12 months... when Nuala was drinking normal cow's milk from a cup) who were telling me just how important this was etc etc. I had to almost apologise for my views, because they are deeply unfashionable right now, and I could see the pity in their eyes. What I really want to say is by then David and I will have both have had enough of me leaking with lust every time he claps eyes on me!

I just want to do what makes me feel as happy and relaxed as possible, because I know that even on my best days I can be a total bitch. I am not an earth mother.

The last thing was names for babies. I have an aversion to Top Ten names http://www.statistics.gov.uk/specials/babiesnames_boys.asp

I personally think they lack originality, and the thought of sending my kids to school with all the other top tenners just bores me to tears. Pick one of these and play it safe? No thanks. Instead of agreeing with me, I was told that in fact there was a very good reason for names being Top Ten... because they are very good names. Yawn. Don't get that. But then, I was up against the parents of four kids all in the Top Ten, so really what did I expect? And I apologise now if you find you or your own kid's names in the Top Ten list. They *are* nice names, they just aren't for me, sorry.

Like I said, kindered spirits.