daemon@decwrl.UUCP (The devil himself) (05/13/85)
Superwoman!_____________________________________________________________________
Attached is a funny "superwoman" article that's been making the rounds
here at DEC. Enjoy!
<_Jym_>
:::::::::::::::: Jym Dyer
::::' :: `:::: Dracut, Massachusetts
::' :: `::
:: :: :: DYER%VAXUUM.DEC@DECWRL.ARPA
:: .::::. :: {allegra|decvax|ihnp4|ucbvax}!decwrl!dec-rhea!dec-vaxuum!dyer
::..:' :: `:..::
::::. :: .:::: Statements made in this article are my own; they might not
:::::::::::::::: reflect the views of |d|i|g|i|t|a|l| Equipment Corporation.
________________________________C_U_T___H_E_R_E_________________________________
_The_Last_Word_On_Sleepless,_Foodless_And_Endless_Good_Health_
by Crescent Dragonwagon
You're today's woman - a nurturing mother who works by day, goes
to law school by night, lifts weights, works hard at your marri-
age, and makes tortellini with fresh basil. You're equally at
home in pinstripes, decolletage, and sweats, and you weigh less
than you did at 12. You deserve a break. So go for it; pencil
yourself in. Take time for quality time - \every/ day.
How many mornings have you literally hit the ground running to
get in 10 or 12 three-minute miles before it's time to fresh-
press the citrus for your husband and kids? Three or four hours
of gentle yoga stretches, then an hour and a half of warm-ups
before your A.M. run will make your mornings a pleasure. "I
find getting up at 3 A.M. \gives/ me energy," says Sivika DuPree,
divorced mother of two, former model and CEO of the multimillion
dollar cosmetics firm Nouveau Riche. "I relish the peace and
quiet, and my workout energizes me much more than sleep ever
did."
Author/caterer/entrepreneur/consultant/mother Marta Stalwart,
who runs daily from her Central Park West penthouse in Manhattan
to Long Island, agrees. "I tell myself, this time is for \me/."
Stalwart's widely acclaimed "Chic Cook" column for _Panache!_
magazine led to the founding of The Golden Gullet, New York's
first haute take-out cafe/salon/laundromat. Stalwart is also
the author of Entertain!, a series now 23 volumes long, with a
new book due out every fall for the next 14 years. "No matter
how busy I am, I couldn't do without my morning run," confesses
Stalwart. "I am always careful, though, to return in time to
fix breakfast for my sons."
Shane, 11, and Judson, 9, are especially fond of their mother's
French toast, for which the bread is cut with an antique heart-
shaped cookie cutter. The batter is scented with freshly
scraped vanilla bean, grown by Stalwart in the small solar-
heated greenhouse she built between chapters of _Shitake!_
Stalwart, whose own breakfast is usually "something light, per-
haps six or seven very fresh grapes," adds, "It's those special
traditions that make a family a family."
Dr. Boyce Druthers, psychologist, concurs. "As I've often re-
marked on my syndicated television show, columns, books, and
T-shirts, many husbands see things like daily beauty rituals,
which may take time, or around-the-clock limousine service,
which at first blush appears costlty, as unnecessary luxuries
for their working wives. That just isn't true! A limousine,
for example, can be a godsend to women in night classes, and
over a year can save hours of significant quality time that
today's husbands and wives so desperately need to catch up with
each other."
But at work, can a woman pamper herself? For some professional
women, at-work pampering is an emotional, not a physical, mat-
ter. "Nurturing my children nurtures me," emphasizes Christine
LaGuerre, whose sportswear line C'est LaGuerre! revolutionized
fashion a year ago with the multiuse Diaper-wrap pantscarf. "I
started only two years ago with a small, at-home office," says
LaGuerre. "Now my 'office,' a six-story SoHo loft, is my home.
I have a padded 'pit' nursery on every floor, so that I can take
meetings with Courtney-Anne, Britton, and Jennifer at any time."
A full complement of cook, nurse, housekeeper, CPA, and appoint-
ment secretary, connected by computer, staffs each floor, which
is equipped with its own juice bar, weight room, and skylight.
A less complicated solution has been found by Carla Marx-
Brothers, who, with husband Steve Brothers-Marx, is full partner
at the prestigious New York law firm Marx-Brothers-Brothers-Marx
and Engels. "We put in a duplicate nursery at the office," says
Marx-Brothers, "identical right down to the Marimekko wallpaper,
to add continuity to the children's lives. Their nanny was
cloned."
The way Theresa Tree, former actress, single mother, and interi-
or designer, makes time is simple: "I haven't eaten for years.
Some might see this as deprivation, but, to me, it's the best
gift I can give myself. Not eating frees up huge blocks of my
time that I can then devote to Leslie and Daniel. Being a mo-
ther is my most challenging role." Although Tree Associates is
now branching out into bed linens, bath and automotive accessor-
ies, she still found time to see Leslie in a recent school play,
\Stalag 17/. Raising a champagne glass of elegant Baccarat
crystal, brimming with tap water ("I think the bottled mineral
waters are so very, very pretentious"), she toasts, "To mother-
hood! To Workhood! To selfhood!"
And to today's woman, we might add - challenging, contradictory,
innovative; who goes for it, who deserves it, who knows she's
worth it, who has it all: whatever it takes and whatever it is.
Crescent Dragonwagon is the author of
some dozen children's books, and her
second novel, "The Year It Rained," will
be published this fall by Macmillan.
She also owns a country inn and pencils
herself in frequently.