Releasing my inner westie

It's been a while since I've posted about any of my insecurities and hang-ups on KATcapers.

I try to keep this place an angst-free zone.

Last week was an interesting week though. I had a run-in with a school parent that caused me equal parts distress, exhilaration and shame.

This parent has been the source of many moments of tension in the nearly seven years I've had the misfortune to be in her midst. On a good day I can stay above it all and just conclude that she's just not my cup of tea. On a bad day I want to smack her in the face and tell her to keep her opinions to herself and stay out of my business.

Suffice to say that my interaction with her last week could be described as a bad day...but only for her:)

My choice of language to encourage her to move her focus elsewhere can be described as colourful...that's if you're a sailor:). If you're the type of person that doesn't use bad language then you would be rightly appalled.

Ive spent most of my adult life trying to distance myself from being a westie. A good friend of mine has an expression she whips out to piss me off "you can take the girl out of the western suburbs but you can't take the western suburbs out of the girl"!

Well I can honestly say that I'm perfectly fine with being a westie even if I never appreciated it when I lived there. If being a westie means I call a spade a shovel. That I try and be a genuine person and not adopt airs and graces. If I respect other people and don't try and tell them what they should do.

All okay with me...proud to be one and I'll proudly wear the tshirt. The truth is that being a westie in my book is just being real as opposed to fake, insincere and shallow which are traits I seem to cop in spades from the more aspirational folk that I come into contact with these days.

So yes, this week I released my inner westie and shut down a vicious, mean-spirited mother who I will thankfully not have to deal with again once this year is over and oldest KAT is off to high school.

Here's to being real. Here's to the benefit of hindsight and realizing that what you've spent years running away from is the way you want to be. Here's to my inner westie.