Because the hours that Raine spend in school is the quietest time I can get to work at home, obviously I am not the one who drops and picks up Raine in school. My mother does, regularly. So when the two of them arrive from school, my mother is the one to fill me up with stories from Raine’s teachers, classmates and their parents. It is our regular session over coffee.

There are times when I really envy my mother, because she gets to interact with other parents in school. But if I have a day job, she gets to do that anyway or somebody else (probably a yaya) will have to do it because I would be at work right? And since I work at home, I get to stay at home instead.

Anyway, there was one time a few weeks ago that for my-being-Raine’s-mother’s sake (and because my mother needed to do something else), I dropped and picked Raine from school. On waiting times I found myself talking to other mothers. The topic went from pregnancies, child deliveries to best positions for conception.

Not that the topics weren’t insightful (believe me they are!) it’s just that I get queasy when married people talk comfortably about what happens in their bedrooms and on their marital beds. I mean If one is discussing such things with their closest friend, that would be a different story. But in front of strangers, in the parents’ waiting area while waiting for your child to get out of the classroom? C’mon.

And then I get to be asked questions, like if I am planning for another child or if i would prefer a girl over a boy next time. Not that I wouldn’t want to answer. It’s just that I cannot answer such questions without giving them a brief history of my unmarried-with-child life. Not that I mind explaining and answering more questions, but they are just most of the time not ready for my answers. Each time I open my mouth, I solicit shock from these parents and I make them uncomfortable with my unconventional views on marriage and parenting.

I haven’t been back to Raine’s school since then. He he. Not yet.