I've just been looking at some of the horrific photographs coming out of Haiti these days after the 7.0 earthquake stuck their poor already ravaged country.  So, I was feeling rather sober and not a little down, when I suddenly spied a headline which instantly lightened my mood - in fact it made me laugh my head off!!!

"PARENTHOOD LOWERS BLOOD PRESSURE: STUDY"

Now, I love the 3 children I gave life to as much as the next person does theirs ... but, did they lower my blood pressure??  What??  Is this a joke????  It HAD to be written by a man ...

So, wiping my eyes, I read on ...

"It is thought the fulfilment of children giving life meaning makes parents more content which has an effect on blood pressure, researchers from Brigham Young University in Utah said."

I kid you not, this is apparently a true study, printed in today's UK 'Telegraph'.  Now, don't misunderstand me, I wouldn't trade the experience of being a mother for anything, but, as someone once said: "Motherhood is not for Wimps!" (I think I still have some notelets somewhere from my 'young mum' days which showed a woman in boxing gear, complete with boxing gloves, standing in her toy/food/clothes strewn kitchen ... I used them for encouragement notes to my other 'stay-at-home-mum' friends)

Actually, I have been conducting my own unofficial study for many years now.  Basically, it involves reading the obituaries (isn't it funny how once your age starts getting 'up there' that page takes on more meaning?)  I note people are adding photographs more often these days, and that really helps with my study, because I search out the ones of elderly women, particularly those who still look good for their age.  Invariably I find a photograph of an aged, well-lined face but with a serene, confident (dare I say, smug??) smile, and upon checking I note the woman's age as being way up in the 90's, with NO mention of children!  But, instead, a long list of accomplishments and accolades collected throughout a long and very active life. So, my conclusions are that childless/husband-less women: a) live longer, b) keep their looks, and c) die with a smug ("I know something you don't know") smile on their face.

I accept that this is a totally unscientific study, and the Telegraph would never publish it ... but next time you read the paper, look in the Obituaries, and checkout the smug looking women who died in their 90's. I bet they were childless!

Now, if the headline had said:

"GRAND PARENTHOOD LOWERS BLOOD PRESSURE"

well, then I could totally understand it - because everyone knows that!  (They are our reward for having children! ;-)

Bye for now ...