And I wasn't even all that liberal in my youth. I never had much respect for public schools. I never wanted to send my (then hypothetical) children to them. Kansas City (where we currently reside) is a tax-dollar sucking monstrosity with high crime and terrible schools. Johnson County (Kansas) is, well, also tax-dollar sucking, but for that money you get a better place to raise kids by pretty much any measure you could think of.
So why am I embarrassed to tell people I'm moving to the land of the cul-de-sac and home of the soccer mom? I couldn't even bring myself to tell Mia's teachers that we are leaving their crappy school district for greener pastures. I should be proud of the fact that we're (just barely)successful enough to be able to move over there. Yet, I feel like I'm trying to be somebody.
It's a mystery that could take years of psychotherapy to unravel.
Update: related thoughts from Johnathan Pearce:
And let's face it, most of us, particularly those with children, live in suburbs or are moving there. It is a conceit, I reckon, of people who have no children, and who do not need the space, to take potshots at those who have decided to leave the supposedly hip inner city. It remains a mystery to me why the desire of people to live in a bit of space and comfort drives certain intellectuals nuts. Maybe it is the garden gnomes.
Ah yes, the hip inner city. I must confess, I wanted to move to a cooler part of town, but, like a boring mommy, I had to consider the schools. And we needed an office. And a guest room. And a deck. And a two-car garage. I guess I'm just having trouble integrating "suburban soccer mom" into my identity.
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