Dara Torres, Quit Making Me Look Bad!
By Glinda
You’ve all heard of Dara Torres. There is no way you could not have heard about her. You know, the 41 year old Olympic swimmer and mother of a two year old, who is shattering stereotypes and breaking records everywhere she goes.
Well, I’m tired of hearing about her inspirational story. You know, the one where she has worked hard, sacrificed much, and stared adversity in the face until it gave up and sulked in the corner where it belonged.
I want to like her, I really do. She’s intelligent and articulate. She seems like she would be a fun person to hang out with.
But she’s making slacker moms like me look bad.
My husband is suddenly wondering why he has to take out the trash, because obviously women have the strength for such tasks. He’s also questioning my dreams and ambitions, which are limited to folding all the laundry and becoming the kindergarten room mother. The laundry dream has yet to be achieved, and I’m still in training for the room mother position.
Yes, my strategy of keeping everyone’s expectations low has worked suprisingly well so far. That way when I actually do something, it looks like I have gone above and beyond the call of duty.
But noooooo.
Dara had to come into town. Bringing her cute smile and six-pack abs with her. Oh, and that annoying work ethic.
Yes, Dara, just please go ahead and win your medals. Prove to everyone that motherhood and aging are no match against a woman of perseverance and talent.
Then maybe my husband will forget about you, and I can go back to looking impressive when I weed the entire front yard.
In one week.
August 12th, 2008 at 10:49 am
You may want to remind your husband that Dara Torres is filthy-ass rich (thus, no need for an outside job), and has an entire full-time staff of people around to train her.
We don’t.
At least, I don’t. I’m assuming you don’t either, but I could be wrong. 🙂
August 12th, 2008 at 1:07 pm
Amen, sister.
August 12th, 2008 at 3:48 pm
I think she looks unnatural.
August 12th, 2008 at 4:31 pm
I think she looks fabulous, but if my husband pulled that on me he’d wake up to find the bathroom plastered in Sebastian Junger and Michael Phelps posters.
August 12th, 2008 at 7:42 pm
Dara is the talk of the sports, fitness, health, and anti-aging world. I thinkk you might enjoy this interesting video that takes viewers back to the very moment the world first learned how Torres has been defying aging for the past 8 years. This is not a commercial or an ad. It’s a very revealing news story.
http://growingbolder.com/media/sports/water-sports/41-and-still-smokin-181865.html
Rachel
August 12th, 2008 at 10:43 pm
Trust me, you are NOT jealous of Dara. All is not as it appears. Be grateful for what you have.
August 12th, 2008 at 11:35 pm
I’m going to echo what La Petite Acadienne said. Dara, whose achievement I honestly respect and applaud, has the luxury of employing, “a head coach, a sprint coach, two stretchers, two masseuses, a chiropractor and a nanny” and “spent at least $100,000 a year preparing for these Olympics. ”
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/13/sports/olympics/13age.html?ref=olympics
August 13th, 2008 at 3:56 pm
Also, some of you may be unaware that being on the Olympic swim team requires that you be away from your family for about 3 months. Three months without contact. What kind of mother in her right mind would chose to leave her two year old for that long? It’s disgustingly egocentric.
August 13th, 2008 at 5:58 pm
August 13th, 2008 at 6:06 pm