Joburg gal

I find it happening more often these days that I stop and think and realise that I've become such a Joburger! Not a hip and happening club-hopping Joburger with lots of money and designer clothes, but a busy working-mom-to-two-kids Joburger.

I have 11 outstanding speeding fines - I just can not drive at 60kph - and the reason that I know about them is not because I've been able to find the time during my day to get to the post office to collect the 11 letters I have notices for, but because I live on my laptop and rely on the internet for all my information.

I get irritated with people who don't know how to drive, I shout back at a bloke in the traffic who flips me the finger but I laugh at another who spits all over my car because I yell at him for being rude to the beggar at the traffic light.

I make all phone calls to family, friends, doctor and teacher whilst driving to and from work.

I adapt my own timetable to that of the amazing young Zimbabwean who looks after my children - I start work a little later than I should because I wait for her and I rush out a little earlier than I should to be home in time for her to catch her bus - this being the main reason for the 11 unpaid speeding fines! But what would I do without her?

I become highly impatient with slow service. I go away to the Magaliesberg for one night and while waiting at the bar to order drinks I'm pacing and searching for the missing bartender, instead of just adjusting my pace and sitting down to enjoy the peace and quiet - the reason we went to the Magaliesberg in the first place.

My eldest daughter gets a lift home from pre-school every afternoon at lunchtime with her teacher because I work a full day and can't go all the way back towards home to collect her, drop her off and then get back to work in 1 hour. And if I did try I'd have double the amount of speeding fines.

I have a gym membership that requires I go twice a month - or else I lose it. Twice a month! That's nothing! But on the last two days of every month I run into the gym to swipe my card because I realise that it's month-end and I haven't actually been able to get to the gym twice in 30 days. Why do I have a gym membership?

I work my butt off but still can't afford to have my hair done, buy new clothes or go on holiday.

Life in this city is fast. It's expensive. It's tiring. It's busy. And if you're not careful, you'll keep running and won't stop to smell the daisies. I'm not saying that I'm unhappy, I just want to be able to stop for long enough to feel less like a hamster on a treadmill - and more like a Wife and Mom who has it together.
Or maybe the fact that I can cook a meal (most nights), get the washing done, the kids dressed, the groceries bought, vegetables pureed, the garden watered, pay attention to my husband, raise fulfilled and happy children and still enjoy a full time job, means that, in fact, I do already have it together.....

Whatever...

I do look forward to a change in scenery. I want to get out of Jhb. I want to exercise. I want to spend afternoons with my girls, taking them to swimming and ballet and horse riding lessons. I want to be home early enough to cook a protein-and-2-veg meal for my little family.

I want to be able to stop and smell the daisies and, someday, I will :)