The suburbs are not as lame as you think

I assure you: We suburban moms are not all Chardonnay-sipping, sweatpants-wearing scrapbookers

The suburbs
(Image credit: Thinkstock)

A few weeks ago, I extracted myself from my sleepy suburb to attend a charity event in New York City. At the end of the evening, a city dweller confided that her husband really wants to move to the suburbs. "He's dying to go," she told me, "but I just don't think I could deal with those suburban women." It was a bit of a City Mouse/Country Mouse moment. She, with her evening couturier, and me, in what could have been my prom dress. Part of me wanted to slug her. But another part of me couldn't really blame her, because I used to be afraid of suburban women too.

I know what the City Mice think about us. They think we are hovering soccer moms who drive unusually large cars and frequently opt for a ponytail in lieu of a shower. They think we've abandoned weekday dressing in favor of tennis whites or black yoga pants. They think we sip Chardonnay at lunch and then gather for scrapbooking in the afternoon.

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE
https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up
To continue reading this article...
Continue reading this article and get limited website access each month.
Get unlimited website access, exclusive newsletters plus much more.
Cancel or pause at any time.
Already a subscriber to The Week?
Not sure which email you used for your subscription? Contact us

Annabel Monaghan is a lifestyle columnist at The Week and the author of Does This Volvo Make My Butt Look Big? (2016), a collection of essays for moms and other tired people. She is also the author of two novels for young adults, A Girl Named Digit (2012) and Double Digit (2014), and the co-author of Click! The Girls Guide to Knowing What You Want and Making it Happen (2007). She lives in Rye, New York, with her husband and three sons. Visit her at www.annabelmonaghan.com.