Reader L.M. sends this e-missive:
“I read with great interest your recent “Nanny Diaries” post [and see also the Mailbag for Oct. 3] about the father whose first wife was apparently overcome by her mothering duties.
“Aside from wishing that we could hear her side of the situation, I couldn’t help wondering if Mom is currently residing in a mental institution, and Dad is something of a drama queen. Some women may truly be mentally unfit to be mothers, but I believe they’re in the minority, at least to the extent that the original poster describes.
“What also intrigued me was his desire that his [current] wife have ‘a few hours each day’ to plan, dream, screw around, etc. Well, I imagine everyone would like that, but what kind of job does she have which actually allows her to do it? Whatever it is, sign me up.”
Me, too–but my bosses won’t let me. And yes, this dad sounds like a drama queen par excellence (read his entire post, and you’ll see what I mean). He also sounds like a control freak. Wife no. 2 wants to ditch the nanny and be a full-time mom–and he won’t let her? The fate of Wife no. 1 does sound quite mysterious. The idea that full-time motherhood drives you crazy doesn’t fly with me, so I suspect that if anything was wrong with her, it was there before she had her child.