Being a stay-home mom does not mean you can't develop

Try telling that to my generation of mothers.

Our favorite line was, "These kids are turning my brain to mush!"

I even said it a few times, back when I still considered myself a feminist and still felt like voting liberal democrat was a good thing to do.

Then, one day, those words passed from my lips, and I realized, "Why am I saying this?"

Yes, why would anyone claim that someone they loved dearly was giving them some kind of brain damage? Do you realize what else you're saying? You're admitting you don't read, you're admitting the only noise you ever hear inside your house is oriented toward babies, and unintelligent babies at that, so you're also admitting your babies are as stupid as you are. You're admitting you don't keep up with the news and you don't discuss politics or religion, let alone philosophy or history, with anyone but yourself and perhaps your spouse. You're admitting your spouse is as stupid as you are and is incapable of offering stimulating conversation. In fact, you're admitting there is never any stimulating conversation to be found in your home. You don't have any subscriptions to any interesting magazines, you never take any adult ed classes, you haven't lifted a finger toward improving yourself by way of taking on or studying any new skill. You may have played the piano as a child, but you're sure not practicing one now, you don't practice your high school french, you haven't learnt a single new language since you graduated, you never sat for months trying to make a complete geneological chart of the Hapsburgs, you never learned that the Viking spread across northern Europe changed that entire continent's social and political structure. How much more can I condemn your self-imposed, voluntary, and bragged-about stupidity?