Michelle's Musings with Michelle Muller

At least once a week I get asked 'what is it like being the wife of an MP”? As I sit to type this I have three robust, confident children engaging in the school morning routine. One is singing away as they pack a lunch box, another is asking to go on the IPod because they are ready and another is frantically looking for school shoes.

Life as a wife of an MP in most ways is like any other household with young children. Ultra-busy, ultra-noisy and ultra-logistically challenging. Most days for me is spent looking after the household. Washing, cleaning, school assistance, homework, running kids to activities, cheering on sports side-lines, finding endless coins for school fundraisers, walking the dog, grocery shopping, gardening and YES even the ironing.

Once I had a parent at school asking me what I had planned for the day. I replied that I had a mountain of ironing. They looked totally shocked and said 'don't you have someone take care of that for you?” My reply… 'I wish!” They assumed that as the wife of an MP, all that 'stuff” would be 'taken care off”. I can tell you now. It is not!

Where does it perhaps differ? Firstly, I get to meet some extraordinary people. The depth of community-spirited people is just inspiring. I love people and their stories, so I get to indulge in this more than I did when Todd was in his previous corporate roles. Secondly, I am privileged to attend events that play host to leaders in the community and further afield. I still can't believe I got to ask Prince Charles which football team he supported, on behalf of our son. (FYI he said it was a secret).

I have to accept that if I want to do something for me, it has to fit in around everyone else's routines. If the routines don't allow it, it just can't happen. I'm always booking in the babysitters. Sunday nights are often spent with the diaries out, working through logistics of the coming week and always looking ahead of time to book in family and couple time.

The most challenging aspect of the role is that you and the family have to share your spouse with the community. Be it a walk around the Mount, a trip to the park or even a whip around the supermarket. People love to talk to their local MP and in many cases, need to. As a family we understand this and even our more public reluctant children accept that yes, they do have to have their picture taken once a year for newsletters and the like.

We entered this role with eyes wide open. Sometimes its glamour and sometimes its toil. At the end of the day, we are a normal family, facing many of the challenges that all families face in this time of life. We just happen to have a father and a husband doing an extraordinary job. But through it all, as the wife of an MP, what is it like? It is a privilege.

Michelle Muller is the wife of Todd Muller, MP for Bay of Plenty and mother to three children aged 7, 10 and 11. Michelle has a passion for writing and after much thought has decided to publish her work under her own name. Not as the wife of an MP, but as a woman who enjoys writing about anything and everything.