Princess Susie Moments

You all know a Princess Susie. The perfect woman with the perfect life. Perhaps with perfect children, a perfect partner and/or a perfect house. She exists (mostly unintentionally) to make you feel inadequate.

By definition, a Princess Susie Moment (PSM) is an unexpected occasion when you are genuinely appreciated by someone - your family, your friends, your children or your partner - for being truly fabulous. Because the real Princess Susie (who will remain anonymous for the purpose of this blog) gets this ALL of the time. And if she wasn't so bloody perfect (and nice) I'd have kicked her hard by now.

This blog entry is dedicated to all you ladies out there who despair about your own LACK of PSM's.

It started off with a phone-call between two friends. Over the course of an hour-long conversation, the following revelations were exchanged:

'I'm really fed up with my other half.'

'I just don't feel appreciated.'

'Who am I? I don't recognise the person I see in the mirror!?'

'I want things to go back to the way they used to be, when we first got together.'

'I do everything around the house - clean, cook, iron - as well as manage a full-time job. Do you think he notices? Does he hell!'

And so it went on.

What's annoying is that you might think the above mutterings (at first glance) came from two bitter, ungrateful, moaning, whinging minnies who had nothing better to do than to berate their other halves. Or you might think these were extracts straight from an agony aunt column in a trashy magazine. Sadly, it was more serious than that. Both women had reached a point in their relationship where they were utterly fed up, exhausted and at breaking point. A sense of identity loss was looming. A hark back to their previous lives was calling. So, they escaped. Only for 48 hours. But in defiance and in need of a spa treatment plus wine. Minus partners, minus children.

It was only when discussing their life issues in more detail that they came across the phenomenon that is Princess Susie. As per the definition at the top of this blog, Princess Susie DOES exist. She is a real person, living a real (perfect) life, with her perfect prince. She is beautiful, intelligent, funny and popular but most importantly, she is treated like a real princess, by her prince. He (also remaining anonymous) buys her flowers (proper flowers from a posh florist, not limp ones from a petrol forecourt, past their sell-by-date), takes her for romantic meals, continuously thanks her for being the mother of his gorgeous children, whisks her off on regular mini-breaks in trendy boutique hotels AND notices when she's had her hair highlighted.

Now, the reality of this phenomenon is that Princess Susie's prince probably has bad breath and a small penis (one can hope) but in all seriousness, this modern fairytale existence did highlight the shortfalls in the two womens' relationships. They wanted more than what was currently on offer - not the flowers or the mini breaks as such - but just a little bit of appreciation and respect from their other halves...their own version of being adored.

And so, the Princess Susie Moment phrase was coined...a reference point to come back to when you are ranting about the things you can't/will never have or situations you can't/won't ever be able to change. Like being stuck in a bad relationship, putting up with a needy, ungrateful friend, dealing with a commitment-phobic boyfriend, living with a messy husband who leaves his dirty pants on the floor, or coping with an interfering mother-in-law.

They say life is too short and that it's not a rehearsal, blah, blah...but if you, like many women out there, need an excuse to rant about YOUR life, feel free to dump it all here. And don't forget to breathe...