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ing. We’ve been breaking up with people since we were sixteen. And we’ve been raising children since the beginning of time.</p><p id="ea08"><b>It’s a supremely important and priceless role.</b></p><p id="c5e2"><i>It was the best job of my life.</i></p><p id="5d13">I would reprise those early years in a heartbeat.</p><p id="c48f">I would do anything to make that same choice again. Every single day was the role of a lifetime. My reviews were excellent. My children are a testimony to every one of them.</p><p id="8611">I just aged out of that role.</p><p id="5bd8">Hollywood has caught up. Aging women are still relevant. They are cast in every different genre and role. Celebrity ‘has beens’ are given reality show comeback opportunities. Movie stars can now do television. Television stars can break out of being typecast.</p><p id="f1eb"><b>The world is giving actors a second chance.</b></p><p id="280e"><i>They are letting them perform as different characters.</i></p><p id="3b80">They aren’t demanding an actor remain in one stereotypical role.</p><p id="e9db">Why can’t suburbia wake up?</p><p id="2ae9">Why can’t narrow-minded views of stay-at-home mothers and divorce evolve? Why does a stay-at-home mother become so role-specific and vulnerable that we have to fight to be relevant, especially in a divorce?</p><p id="aecc"><b>It sounds like I’m being melodramatic, doesn’t it?</b></p><p id="694b">I’m not.</p><p id="6cb2"><i>My divorce as a stay-at-home mother shouldn’t feel like a celebrity comeback.</i></p><p id="6b7f">I shouldn’t be fighting to feel relevant again or reclaim my self-respect.</p><p id="cf73">I got married, I raised my children, and then I got a divorce. It’s not that shocking. I’m not used up. I’m still able to play many roles. The world is still going round.</p><p id="3f44"><b>I didn’t sign up to be a sob story.</b></p><p id="b059"><i>I’m not a ‘has been wife.’</i></p><p id="4a3d">This isn’t my comeback.</p><p id="9c2b">I haven’t regained my popularity, it’s simply my revival.</p><p id="a721"><b><i>If you would like to read more of my stories and support me as a writer, </i></b><i>consider signing up to <a href="https://colleenorme.medium.com/membership">become a Medium member.</a> For just $5 a month, you will get unlimited access to Medium.</i></p><div id="8aaa" class="link-block"> <a href="https://colleenorme.medium.com/every-time-i-look-in-the-mirror-at-my-d

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My Divorce as a Stay-At-Home Mom Felt Like a Celebrity Comeback

Like I am fighting to be relevant again

It sounds like I’m being melodramatic, doesn’t it?

I’m not.

A divorced stay-at-home mother isn’t that different from a ‘celebrity has been.’ Our day of relevance has passed. We come with a divorce expiration date.

There’s no Dancing With the Stars for the stay-at-home mom comeback.

We have been permanently inserted into a role.

There’s no one clamoring to hire us. The world doesn’t envision us in any other role but the stay-at-home mother. We are seen as a volunteer and community leader who lacks any real skills.

It’s hard to believe we stay-at-home mom ‘has beens’ got anything done.

We don’t get the respect we deserve. The message is you were good once. We respected you then. We loved watching your work. You played your stay-at-home mother role superbly.

We’re just not interested in envisioning you as anything else.

Here’s the thing.

I didn’t sign up to be a sob story or a ‘has been wife.’

Divorce shouldn’t demand I surrender my self-respect.

I shouldn’t be seen differently because I no longer surround myself with one supporting cast member. I should be able to restore myself to any new occupation.

I should be able to walk into a cocktail party like I’m still a part of the ‘A list’ and not the ‘B list.’ People should still value my work as an actor, I mean a person…an individual.

I’m not a stay-at-home mother has been.

I am a woman who chose to do a job that best suited my family at that time.

I don’t deserve to be pigeonholed.

I got a lousy divorce. That’s all. Society really needs to catch up with that. It’s not earth-shattering. We’ve been breaking up with people since we were sixteen. And we’ve been raising children since the beginning of time.

It’s a supremely important and priceless role.

It was the best job of my life.

I would reprise those early years in a heartbeat.

I would do anything to make that same choice again. Every single day was the role of a lifetime. My reviews were excellent. My children are a testimony to every one of them.

I just aged out of that role.

Hollywood has caught up. Aging women are still relevant. They are cast in every different genre and role. Celebrity ‘has beens’ are given reality show comeback opportunities. Movie stars can now do television. Television stars can break out of being typecast.

The world is giving actors a second chance.

They are letting them perform as different characters.

They aren’t demanding an actor remain in one stereotypical role.

Why can’t suburbia wake up?

Why can’t narrow-minded views of stay-at-home mothers and divorce evolve? Why does a stay-at-home mother become so role-specific and vulnerable that we have to fight to be relevant, especially in a divorce?

It sounds like I’m being melodramatic, doesn’t it?

I’m not.

My divorce as a stay-at-home mother shouldn’t feel like a celebrity comeback.

I shouldn’t be fighting to feel relevant again or reclaim my self-respect.

I got married, I raised my children, and then I got a divorce. It’s not that shocking. I’m not used up. I’m still able to play many roles. The world is still going round.

I didn’t sign up to be a sob story.

I’m not a ‘has been wife.’

This isn’t my comeback.

I haven’t regained my popularity, it’s simply my revival.

If you would like to read more of my stories and support me as a writer, consider signing up to become a Medium member. For just $5 a month, you will get unlimited access to Medium.