As an only child and only grandchild I learned how to entertain myself quite well when alone. I grew up around adults and adult entertainment. I actually require a certain amount of alone time daily. It helps me get my thoughts in order and feel more centered.

I live alone — and, basically, I love it. I’ve never been bored or lonely for one instant. My imagination is too active; my memories too sweet. I date rarely. I didn’t want to post on the serious question of discrimination against women. But I did muse about whether it is sexual discrimination if the most appealing women some times reject me on the grounds that I may not be good enough. I feel a little these days like Groucho Marx felt about admission to a club. I am uncertain I could respect the woman who would put up with me. That is to say that I have developed habits from being alone that might or might not be tolerated by any other human being. But they are my habits, and I embrace them. I’m not against people. And that’s another thing. I used to be against people on the New York subway and it wasn’t fun. Oh, well…this could be an entire biography. If I’m not bored, why should I visit it on others — and that’s another thing about constant company.

I too agree that there is a difference between being alone and loneliness. I like my apartment and am not afraid of being alone. I have never gone out to dinner alone. I have gone to movies alone and only once to the theatre alone, but I will try it again. (You may want to investigate having a male silhouette for Frank and Dan. Dr. Stein is a whole other ball of wax.)

I work alone, it is not lonely, it is just alone. I have a lot to do and there is pressure, but not like others who work in large companies with a lot of stress. I am the only female in this house full of mantribe. It is a whole different universe, so I have had to develop ways to be alone amongst them. Sometimes I used to feel lonely, I have many loving friends and a lot of good people to laugh with, but they commute to work so I don’t have lunches with them. I had my 2nd child at 41 so his friend’s mothers were about 28-32, so there was not a lot in common, so I learned how to enjoy being alone. Then I realized that when I had a choice, to do things with others or go somewhere by myself, I usually chose to go by myself. Sometimes that was due to energy level during medical treatment, and it doesn’t come back as fast as it used to. Also, I wasn’t always interested in the same things as others, so I went on my own to explore and discover those things.

Well, this question settles any doubts about the demographics of WoW. The women who haven’t answered this question are either too busy or are gasping at the idea of *days* on your own! For those of us in the childrearing segment of our lives, hours (and if the kids are little enough- minutes) on your own is aspirational. It has been more than a decade since I have been alone for a few days. Happy on my own before marriage and babies, I have not had any real desire to spend days away from them since I got them. The odd hour or two, yes. The occasional night away with my husband (so we can have a conversation in complete sentences), yes. But mostly it has been such a kick having them that I have been perfectly happy not being on my own. However, this summer, the children will enter the brave new world of sleep-away camp and the question will become briefly relevant: 10 days without them. Although we will take a few days a deux, we won’t use up all our holiday time, so there will actually be a few days when my husband is travelling and I am home alone. It is almost like being a little girl again and imagining the future. Will I mooch around the house in a dressing gown, eat Ben & Jerry’s out of the package, and watch TV so trashy that I won’t even admit it to my husband? Will I be like the bath salts commercial, line the tub with candles and drink a glass of wine in a bath full of bubbles and listen to romantic old music? Will I be virtuous and tackle the attic? Will I be achievement oriented and get those two articles written? Will I go to evening things- an art opening, a concerned citizens meeting- that are so hard to get to with children too young to leave alone and a husband who is traveling? I suspect that whatever it ends up being, the real delight is in the possibilities- and that mostly by contrast to everyday life.

Alone, alone — my Kingdom for alone. I dream of 2 months — alone — on some Caribbean beach with the Mai Tais funneled in at 5. Oh well!