I’m about to make a confession, hold on to your seats.
I suffer from Middleclassilitis*.
I could never understand people that furiously check their diaries when you propose a braai/drink/swim/play date. You know, those people that say ‘Yes, what a fantastic idea, let’s do it in 12 weeks’ time as I have between 15h00 and 16h00 available on that Sunday afternoon.’
I mean, if you want to see me you’ll make the effort right? Right? I thought these people must be playing hard to get. Or they didn’t plan their time properly. Or they were plain disorganized. Or they were fobbing me off. Or my kids were delinquents. Or we smelt funny.
Wrong.
Since the beginning of the year we have had a ridiculously busy social life. It’s all been fun stuff and we love that we get invited to so many parties (or maybe all our friends and their kids just have birthdays in January and February). But enough now, we need a holiday and it’s not even bloody March yet.
I find myself cringing when I say to people, ‘Sorry, would love to see you, but can’t do that playdate until the end of March as we are just too busy.’ I literally cringe. When did I become “that” person that isn’t flexible and available over weekends? When did our lives become so busy that we so sparingly have to make time for the people we usually get to see over weekends?
I classify this whole business of being too busy right up there with having to admit to myself and other people that we actually have an Au Pair now and not “someone that collects the kids from school” or, my other favourite, a “Child-minder”. I don’t see myself as being in that class of person, you know, “Middle-class”, not that I know where I would fit in otherwise. But still.
I recently heard about someone that put her friends into A, B and C Categories and allocates a specified amount of time to each of those friends according to their category and I remember thinking how cold that is. But she might have a point.
That’s why I have decided that I suffer from Middleclassilitis. That, despite my best efforts to the contrary, we are just your average family that has too little time and money to get around to everything and everyone that we value. And then some time just to ourselves to be inert on the couch for a change.
How do you manage your so-called free time? Do you have rules for activities over weekends? Do you limit social events?
*Middleclassilitis is an actual word I made up. I put on Urban Dictionary and all that, but their people haven’t spoken to my people yet. Will keep you posted…