A Normal Life... Kidman Style

What is normal? Deciding what is and what isn’t can be tricky.

Webster says normal is agreeing with the standard or norm, natural, usual or regular; in good health, not ill, diseased or malformed, the usual condition.

If you look in any thesaurus there are many, many terms that you can use to describe normal i.e., conventional, natural, traditional, sane, rational, lucid, reasonable, well-adjusted and whole.

So what is it about Keith’s life that is normal? Granted we only get a glimpse of what his life is like, but let’s review what we know.

Friends…The only “friends” we see them with are their paid entourage. We’ve seen them with her sister’s friends or her parents. We’ve seen Keith with Nic’s body guards. But I’m quite sure that paid “friends” are not really friends, especially if you don’t pay them. Do anonymous drinking buddies count as friends? How about one night stands? Is your latest co-star considered your friend?

Family…We know that Nic has two children and for some reason has very little contact with them. We’ve seen Nic photographed with the prop-children. We’ve heard stories that Nic is very close to her dad, not close to her mum, then close to her mum, best friends with her sister, married to someone she doesn’t know very well but is her best friend and of course now she has always wanted to be pregnant and have a family of her own. Confused? I am.

Many of us have in-laws that we do not like but we always manage to figure out a way to get along for the sake of our spouses. Even if we don’t like them - they are considered family.

Keeping that in mind I would like to ask where are Bob and Marienne? Who, you ask? They are Nic’s in-laws. Keith has a brother and sister-in-law, too, in case you didn’t know.

So far, does any of this line up on the normal side? Not yet? We’ll keep going…

Home… Aaah yes, home. I use the term home here but there is a difference between a home and a house. A home is the place where we can let our hair down, relax, enjoy some quiet time and reconnect with your loved ones. Many of us have a home that we return to everyday. Many of us have only one home that we live in and maybe that home is close to our extended families or maybe it is close to where we work. It’s a nurturing place with good karma. If we are lucky, some of us might even have a vacation home on the beach or in the mountains.

A house is an asset. A house is where you can go to sleep rather than a hotel. A house is model-house clean because it is never lived in, never loved in.

I can tell you where they have houses but can you tell me where their home is?

Everyday life…We all need the basics - food, clothing, household supplies, etc. We go to the gym, attend functions, meetings, dinners out, and go shopping. Not necessarily the most exciting activities of our lives but something we all must do.

Have you ever had paparazzi snap photos of you coming out of Target? Has there ever been a wave of flashes go off when you walked out of a restaurant or when you were taking things out of the trunk of your car? Me neither, and after seeing the many faces of Nic, I’m rather glad. I’m going to venture a guess here that the reason you haven’t been snapped leaving your favorite barista is that it’s not special. Millions of folks just like you are doing the same thing everyday. Whether it’s getting coffee or having a baby, it’s just not tabloid worthy. Unless you are a certain someone that has the story “leaked” to the press that you are expecting, and then denies the news, then confirms the news. Whew! Hard to keep track of the ball on this one-kind of like a tennis match. But don’t worry -every moment will be caught for posterity by her paparazzi.

By the way, this week we are still on bump watch. Check it out at any grocery line or newsstand.

(Note to Nic…when you pay good money to have the paps available for those random, spontaneous moments, try to make nice for the camera).

How many synonyms for the normal have you been able to use to describe Keith’s life so far? A quick check of my notepad…ooops, still blank. Let’s try one more.

Professional Life…Most of us try to keep our personal lives somewhat separate from our professional ones. Our co-workers and clients don’t want to hear us babble on and on about our spouses or children. It gets old and boring really fast. In the some careers, the work week is varied; the location of your job might be different all the time. Traveling might be required and even expected in your chosen career. It’s tough when you are away from your life like that. So, understandably, you would want to get back to your spouse every chance you could get - like say, every 12-13 days. Even if it meant a two-day commercial flight half-way around the world, right? So let’s say you decide to do the flight so you can spend some quality time with her…at her job site, holding her purse and water bottles. Alas, quickly your time is up and you must get back on the plane to spend the next two days getting back to your career. Before you know it, the process starts all over again in less than two weeks. Fun, huh? After trying that routine 3 or 4 times you’re probably not feeling ready to jump back into that assigned seat onboard? Call in sick; everyone will understand….you can call it international commitments.

Everyday, you decide for yourself what normal is and isn’t. We hope to live our lives with minimal drama and pain. We do what we can to stay away from the bizarre, deviant, eccentric, peculiar, unusual and weird.

Life, Kidman style, is not a thing of beauty and it’s definitely not normal.