Mad About You by Sinéad Moriarty Read Free Book Online Page B

drooping and I can only afford Botox once a year. And let’s be honest, darling, it’s tough out there and I do not want to spend the next forty years alone. I need to look my best to get a new man and I’m only interested in millionaires. I’ve been on several dates and none of them had big enough bank balances … yet.’ She winked at me.
    I laughed. Poppy was fun. ‘I’d be happy to give you some tips.’
    Poppy lifted her sunglasses onto the top of her head. ‘Now, childcare. I got my girl through Outstanding-aupairs.com. I can forward you the details when I get home. There’s an agency on Putney High Street called Nanny Solutions that’s supposed to be good, too. But actually, now that I think of it, my cleaning lady mentioned that her daughter’s looking for work. She’s nineteen or twenty and she’s Irish too. I’ll text Maggie when I get home and let you know. Maggie’s fantastic, so kind and trustworthy. I’m sure her daughter will be a decent girl.’
    ‘That would be brilliant.’ I was delighted with how things seemed to be falling into place – first the job, now the childminder. ‘Thanks so much.’
    Carol was crouching to examine one of her vegetables. ‘I’m not going to be much help to you. I’ve never left the children with anyone but my mother,’ she said.
    ‘Never?’ I was shocked. ‘But what if you need to go out and your mother isn’t available?’
    Carol shrugged. ‘I just stay in, or take the boys with me.’
    Poppy butted in: ‘And, by the way, her mother lives miles away and only babysits about three times a year.’
    I was gobsmacked. ‘So you’ve never left the children with anyone else?’ Was she serious? It just sounded so … inflexible.
    ‘No, and I never would.’
    ‘I’d leave my kids with anyone who’d take them,’ Poppy announced.
    ‘Why?’ I asked Carol.
    ‘I wouldn’t let a stranger look after my most treasured possessions,’ Carol said. ‘I just wouldn’t be able to relax.’
    ‘I’ve had lots of different babysitters looking after Yuri and Lara, and I’ve never had a problem,’ I pointed out.
    ‘You’re wasting your breath,’ Poppy assured me. ‘You’ll never change Carol’s mind.’
    I was taken aback by Carol’s attitude. How could she never leave her boys with anyone but her mother? Her oldest was nine. There must have been lots of nights when she’d wanted to go out but had had to stay in. I didn’t see anything wrong with using babysitters. I’d always hired nice local girls.
    When I’d gone back to work after my adoption leave, Mum had looked after Yuri, but when Lara had come along I’d hired a lovely Polish girl called Natasha, who had minded the two children for the four hours I was at work each day. Natasha had been amazing: she’d baked with them and taken them to the park and was very sweet. If I hadn’t had her, I wouldn’t have been able to work. Working mums had to hire people to look after their small children or put them in crèches. I didn’t have the guts to say it out loud, but I thought Carol was being unrealistic.
    Carol could probably guess what I was thinking from the look on my face, and it was her turn to sound defensive. ‘I’m not judging anyone else. I just personally wouldn’t feel comfortable leaving my children with someone I barely knew. Would you let a stranger wear your clothes or sleep in your bed? No.’
    ‘It’s called having a life, Carol. It’s called getting out of the bloody house. It’s called retaining your sanity,’ Poppy said. ‘Nowadays children rule their parents’ lives. It’s all about them. We’re just slaves to their needs and wants. I’m sorry, but I think it’s utterly ridiculous. A woman is not a monster for wanting to have a few hours to herself.’
    ‘Or for going back to work,’ I added, ‘which a lot of the time isn’t even a choice any more. Lots of my friends have had to go back to work to help pay the bills.’
    Carol sat back on her heels