Paradise Lost--Catty Christians!

Monday morning, the routine. Ingrid had driven her four kids to their parochial primary school. Her youngest, Matthew, was settling into his first year in the system. Now Ingrid's future was ahead, confronted by piles of washing, with mountains of meals to cook.

Why wasn't she skipping around in her free time, reading a romantic chick lit? Yes, she was realizing again that her devout husband's rhythm method had failed. Ingrid was the first and last to know the end result of those fateful questions. "What's for dinner, Little Mother?" Plus the life-changer, in the midnight hours......."Are you awake?" Lenny's foreplay was not exactly romantic.

Her marriage to the pillar of the faith community had not always been like this. Ingrid's parents had migrated from overseas, to a long ago promise of peace, freedom from bombs and repression. They had arrived in a land where they could God's grace in peace.

As a young woman, Ingrid had pleased her family, when they approved of Lenny, knocking on her front door with a bunch of flowers. It had been right after secondary school, her father agreed the couple of teenagers could date. After marrying in a veil of white in holy nuptials, consummation of attraction led to four babies in six years .

Ingrid faced the thought of yet more years of another toddler, smashing her saucepans, yelling, more washing. It was her role as a dutiful daughter of the Blessed Virgin to welcome again a carbon copy of demanding Lenny. She really felt like hurling the plaster statue of the Holy Family across the room. But she knew who would have to clean up the fragments.

Ingrid was regurgitating, just like those loads of her family's washing time for jocks and socks. She still had to dry and iron all those shorts and shirts, plus prepare yet more healthy, nutritious meals. Then she was expected to venture to her weekly prayer group of her sisters in faith, before she did tuck shop duty. She wondered why she was too timid to stay home and not bother.

Ingrid had once aimed to be an Earth Mother, but this time around, she felt nothing for the stork's latest bundle of joy. She held little Jimmy in her arms, imagining a good night's sleep, let alone staying in bed. That had been in those grand old days before her devout marriage and motherhood.

She was soon back on her feet again, smiling amid a cloud of an emotional desert. She kept on ticking everyone's boxes, never confiding with anyone her sisterly journey. Inside, she resented every demand, every marital grope, dreading yet more afterbirths.

Part of Ingrid's new routine was to stand in the school mother's car space, after all the kids had entered their classrooms. The yummy mothers and older women stood around in the morning sunshine. Any woman who did not join in was a subject of rumors, gossip, witchy comments from some very catty Christians. The small town swirled, the faith community thrived on any loose item, any hint of a human failing to criticize.

One morning, as Ingrid stood there, not saying much, with little Jimmy in his stroller, there was an interruption. Emerging from the nun's reflection room, there stormed the older head honcho nun. In full devout regalia, the ageing sister was very cross.

"Mothers!" she said, loudly, "It is a beautiful, sunny morning. Through my open windows, I have been listening to your nasty gossip. So have half this school. This is not what Our Lord wants from you. You are all to stop this nasty habit right now. Go home, do your washing, and make your husband's dinner!"

Terrified by the old, angry nun, the mother's hastily drove home, and obeyed .Old nuns were scary, the mothers had all been well groomed to be dutiful. That is what they sent their kids to the same old school, same old double standards.

Despite all such good intentions, the mother's unofficial club of gossip was soon back at it. Ingrid stopped joining in, no longer sure what Our Lord really wanted from her. Earth Mothers in those days, like Ingrid, had started exercising, whipping off baby bellies. So she polished her old bicycle, Lenny fitted it with a baby seat, and she cycled around. Her older kids could walk to school.

One Spring morning, after the washing was done, casserole and dessert, prepared, she took Little Jimmy to the local cafe. He was a nice boy really, but Ingrid was still going through all the motions. Unexpectedly, the cafe owner cooked her a toasted cheese sandwich. His eyes danced, their hands brushed. Ingrid did not overreact, maybe he did that to all the housewives.

Then the cafe owner sat down next to her, as Little Jimmy ate his lunch. "Hi, Sebastian's my name. This is my business. Nice to meet you." Ingrid detected an accent, he sounded like her parents. Soon, they were chattering away in the language of her homeland, so far away and long ago.

This become a new habit of hers. After the morning routine, Ingrid and Sebastian shared lunch, or a morning coffee, or a bit more than a glance. He had her phone number, she had his. They could not resist, temptation had loomed. Sebastian had many plans, none of them included Ingrid's children or family. He was free spirit, in love with a real woman.

Ingrid knew inherently that this was not what Our Lord would suggest or expect. But there was hope for all God's children on earth, including women. What was more, Sebastian believed that birth control was not rocked science. Ingrid now wondered why she had lived in such indoctrinated fear for so long.

At home, she no longer responded to Lenny's whispers in the night. She even wore panty-hose to bed, avoiding such engaging with him. He was such a control freak, it was what he expected. She had done her duty, maybe she was fatigued. Ingrid did pray, it was her heritage. Should she choose her church, or follow her heart? She had finally come to know true love.

Sebastian and Ingrid kept their love a secret, sweeping the future under the carpet. But they did take that chance. Little Jimmy was finally old enough to enter the faith classroom, following Lenny's path for his kids to grow up just like him.

This was it. Ingrid took Little Jimmy to the lovely, welcoming teacher, and then..... vanished! Sebastian had taken care of all their plans, she was never coming back. Ingrid did not even care that she had really let it rip forever with the gossip club. She and Sebastian ventured interstate, and opened a cafe/restaurant in a charming, seaside tourist town. It was blissbombs. Ingrid thrived in his charming loving. Her parents were horrified, the catty comments echoed, no one knew where she could have met such a beau. But Ingrid was happy.

Meanwhile, the first day of little children in their classrooms had ended. All the kids were collected, went home with the new editions of the yummy mummies. Little Jimmy stood and watched this, wondering where his mummy was, why she was so late. The school day wound down, his teacher wanted to head home. to cook her husband's tea. The old nun tracked down Lenny, who took Little Jimmy and his other kids home.

There, the laundry held a mountain of unwashed clothing, the dishes were still in the sink, there was no kind smile and hugs for anyone, no aroma of a well-cooked meal. Lenny was aghast, considering some medical catastrophe. That was that.

Still. the church community rallied around. The mother's club competed in bringing meals for a while. Lenny had to learn to cook and decode the mysteries of washing and ironing. It was not really rocket science. He never divorced Ingrid, he was a true son of the devout, a pillar, a role model. Divorce and remarriage were not an option.

The years passed. Sebastian's new restaurant was on the pale traveler's 'must do' agenda. A roaring success. Ingrid did get in touch with her kids years later, through social media. Her eldest, Faith, was very snippy. The next three boys were glad to know she was okay. Little Jimmy had learnt never to trust any woman. All his teachers had been women, so he never reached his potential in faith education. His father had enlisted him in the army, but Little Jimmy believed authority sucked.

He did appear to visit Ingrid and Sebastian. They got to know Little Jimmy. Old Lenny had passed over to his Lord. Faith sent Ingrid some boxes of chattels that had been in the cupboards all those years. Unpacking these souvenirs, Ingrid hoped that Little Jimmy would one day settle, form a happy relationship. He actually bought into a charter fishing business, deciding that he preferred his mother, and that Sebastian was a really good guy.

In the evening, Ingrid gazed lovingly at Sebastian, cooking, "What's for dinner" She reflected that the orange crock-pot had survived, the church had survived, her marriage had not, but her kids had survived. Was it Paradise Lost, after all, or Paradise Gained, ditching the gossip club? God had given her a second chance of true love, timeless, everlasting. She prayed for the blessings she had received, instead of listening to all those catty Christians.