Identity: Parent

Pet theory alert:

One reason why new parents often feel isolated and lose their feelings of individuality, may be that they are not seeing other people with strong identities and stand-out looks.

Once we have kids, we get immersed into a world of babies, comfy clothes, daycare, exhaustion and… that’s often it. Those of us who are working may be working from home or in an out-of-town office.

We’re surrounded by other parents too. Often we’ve moved into the suburbs, away from city life.

I’ve been through all this. I like our home in the suburbs, thankfully as otherwise being stuck in it during a pandemic would have been less nice.

But since I’ve started a new job in a bustling and characterful part of the city, where I walk past all kinds of people wearing all sorts of different styles of clothing, and I’m starting to remember what it felt like to not only be “mamaaa”.