The Benefits of Mommy School

The story goes that a little girl had fallen down and cut herself. Her Mama told her that she had to get the cut washed and disinfected. Her Mama further explained about bacteria and viruses that would make her sick. Impressed, the little girl asked, "Where do you go to learn such things, Mama?"

Absentmindedly, Mama replied, "Don't you know? All Mommies have to attend Mommy school and do well there."

Thoughtfully, the little girl asked again, "What happens if you don't do well in Mommy school?"

The Mama was at a loss for words.

Then, with a bright smile, the little girl exclaimed, "Those who don't do well in Mommy School become Daddies!"

Talking to men about the Covid19 is to vomit blood. All the circulating videos of people who refuse to mask up are of men! A couple of weeks ago, the 4 men at my favourite hawker stall pooh poohed away my concerns, brushing them away like trivialities. I packed masks for The Husband into his briefcase only to find them clean and unused at the end of the day. Like those stubborn men at my favourite hawker stall, The Husband also trivialised my fears and wanted to see the data before, in his words, "over-reacting."

Over-reacting! The Husband said I was over-reacting!

Yesterday night, I casually asked whether we could have prevented community spread and thereby, prevented the Singapore Circuit Breaker if the government policy had been to mask up from Day 1. The Husband vigorously defended the government's measured Wait-And-See response. He maintained that our high numbers of Covid19 were due to the ghetto conditions of the workers' dormitories. He maintained that this was not a problem that mask wearing could resolve. We argued back and forth. I was about to vomit blood when I decided to ask some leading questions.

(1) In your organisation, do people who come in close contact with customers have to mask up compulsorily?

Answer: Yes.

(2) How many of your customer service staff out of a few thousand have Covid19?

Answer: 2.

For a viral disease as contagious as the Covid19 and an organisation where thousands of staff face high volumes customer flow through everyday, to have only 2 cases of Covid19 is not enough evidence that masking works?

Huh? Really?

The thing about men is that they are all testosterone deformed. Click HERE for a detailed write up of this common condition. Men are risk takers. They cannot help it. This is what makes men... men. This is what makes men attractive, but when it comes to fighting a virus, we really need a woman at the helm.

Women will err on the safe side. I hang out mostly with mothers. Even as all of us Mommies sat quietly waiting for government leadership to pronounce its wisdom, all of us were spontaneously taking steps 3 steps beyond what the government specified to keep our families safe. My mommies were already masking up their children when they came for class. I was already masking myself and my facilitators. I bought about 80 cloth masks (of different designs), ready to lend to anyone who steps through my front door, and for every one of us to go through multiple mask changes in one day.

Whilst our husbands were out there making the courageous decisions to be measured and to not over react, us women were wondering why we were not staying 5 steps ahead of the virus rather than tracking it closely and following behind it.

Defense Against Attack
Men's brains are built for attack. Women's brains are built to defend. When it is a virus, the only game is defense. Defenses need to be erected early. You cannot watch to see where the enemy is coming, and then attack it. This enemy moves unseen, and we have no weapon against it. How to attack? How to harness all that testosterone?

Your defenses must already be up, when the virus arrives at the walls.

Men Don't get It
The men don't get it. The Husband does not get it. Men thrive when there are crises. Women prefer a world without crisis. Politicians should be ambi-gendral you know. They should be able to think like men and like women simultaneously. Else, they should listen more to the women politicians or to their own wives. In fact, I think all male politicians should go to Mommy School.