I have a confession to make. I read the Daily Mail – often. I don’t buy it. (Does that make it better?). But I do read it online. When I am writing at ‘My Kitchen Table’ my coffee break is usually accompanied by a log onto dailymail.co.uk. Here I can be entertained without being too bothered by recession, economics or politics. I can’t take the Daily Mail very seriously with its endless stories of WAGs and Soap actresses – that’s why it’s perfect coffee break material. But I do get a bit agitated about how obsessed the paper gets about women and their weight. This week however they have been concentrating their particular brand of stupidity on our own Sinead O Connor.

Today’s Daily Mail (online version anyway) has an article entitled Sinead’s sad slide from being pop’s most ethereal beauty”. Sad slide? What on earth are they on about? They describe her recent appearance in Manchester as being “overweight and dressed in a drab trouser suit”. They have also described her as ‘mumsy

Sinead has aged. Like real women do. She is a mother to four children. She is in her mid 40s. She looks like a woman who has other things in her life besides an endless quest to retain her youth. She is wearing her life experience in true Shirley Valentine fashion and more importantly she says she is very happy to be called Mumsy. According to the Irish Independent at the weekend she say I love when I’m called mumsy. As I am in my ‘mumsy‘ department. I’ve already gone forth and multiplied four times. So I don’t need to be beautiful. Hence one can see how cool it is to be called ‘mumsy.’”

Hurray for Sinead O’Connor. As she herself said – she is not paid to look good. She is not a model. She is a musician and artist. And it is in that department that her latest album has been getting great reviews.

So I say ‘go Sinead’ – there are lots of us mums who while not exactly having given up on looking good but who are happy enough to look our age – and we are cheering you on! As for the Daily Mail – its great craic… as long as you don’t take most of it too seriously!

Note to self : check out Sinead’s new album. Her voice is so beautiful.

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