I love my kids, but I refuse to complain about them all the time. Why do women ONLY talk about their children?

As I took my seat at a women’s networking luncheon, it quickly became apparent that the guests at my table more than matched the cost of the event.

There was the corporate lawyer in a sharply tailored suit; the top bank manager with a scary haircut; the woman who ran a recruiting firm and placed people in six-figure salary jobs, and another who did something inexplicably complex in the tech sector: a formidable group of women making great strides in their professional lives.

So, given the origins of my fellow diners, you might imagine that the possibilities for absorbing conversations about, say, politics, work, travel or books would be limitless. But when the waiters poured glasses of crisp Chablis and offered hors d’oeuvres with round smoked salmon, it quickly became clear that there would be no side dish to accompany a lively conversation.

Not because these women didn’t have a lot to say. Quite the opposite. In fact, they didn’t keep their mouths shut. The problem was that all these well-groomed, accomplished career women were all focused on one topic: their children.

The barrister to my right gave a particularly bleak account of her daughter’s problems choosing GCSE subjects.

Meanwhile, the tech guru to my left was blabbering on about how her son – ‘he’s very smart’ – was preparing for a Duke of Edinburgh Award.

They just kept going, no detail was too nonsensical or boring to remove from their monologues, so any idea of ​​making new business contacts (my whole reason for attending) was shot to pieces. All I left with was a steaming pile of parental anecdotes.

Not that this was an isolated incident by any means. I’ve lost count of the times I’ve found myself among groups of women—at dinner parties, work dates, or social gatherings—who have found themselves unable to talk about anything other than their children.

They are self-absorbed and puffed up by the certainty that their children’s every breath is making headlines, and they have no idea how to take their conversation beyond the confines of their children’s lives. Don’t they worry about the cost of living, the Oscars or the upcoming elections in the US and Britain?

Now I have nothing against children; I am truly blessed to have four of my own children. I adore their bones, and as their mother, I am absolutely captivated by their daily lives.

Yet I am acutely aware that while all this is a source of endless fascination and pride for me, the outside world is not equally fascinated. Unfortunately, many women do not understand this.

In this age of groundbreaking female achievement, how did it get to this point? Have we forgotten that we had to break the glass ceiling, fight for elections and fight for equal pay?

So if you’re one of those women who thinks everyone is fascinated by your child, take it from me – they’re not, writes Angela (stock image)

Do you really imagine men indulging in introspective conversations about their children while strolling the golf course or networking over a beer? Of course not. They enjoy the freedom of their child-free free time.

One woman, high up in the financial world, has the gift of always directing conversations back to her children. She recently managed to hijack an impassioned group chat about whether Trump could become US president for a second time into an exhausting monologue about her son’s first trip to New York. Who cares?

Is there a way to capitalize on these often brain-numbing scenarios? Believe me, I tried it. I remember at a birthday lunch, encouraged by a G&T on an empty stomach, declaring that all talk of children should be banned.

“It’s boring, boring, boring,” I stormed. “Do you really think that when our children get together, they waste time talking about their parents? So why on earth are we doing the same thing?’

It worked – for a while. By the time dessert arrived, like dieters, they fell off the wagon and back into the world of school uniforms, exams and college applications.

On another occasion, in almost absolute desperation from boredom, I found myself declaring, “Is anyone else using the bobbin here?” I’m sure it’s time for mine to come out.” Getting the other women away from the obsessive, child-oriented chatter was the first thing I could think of.

So if you’re one of those women who thinks everyone is fascinated by your child, take it from me: they’re not. A good conversation between intelligent, committed women should be as simple as child’s play, and not about it.