Sarah Too

She looks thrilled.

I realize that I have not posted on here in quite some time. I write a blog post mostly every day for the gym the Mister and I own, so there is not always much left in the tank for me to share personal stories. Lately, though, I keep thinking about "Moms of the Past". Pioneer moms. Shipboard moms of the Mayflower, or Titantic (clearly one was a more successful voyage than the other, for the ship at least). Depression moms of the 1930s (not depressed moms of every era). Rich Moms. Poor Moms. Pre-Pinterest and internet Moms. Our own mothers.

What I keep wondering is, when did it become popular thinking that parents, and moms in particular, had to be the end-all-be-all entertainers, educators, and cheerleading attention-giving friends of our offspring? Certainly, Pioneer Mom, in the midst of killing, plucking, and cooking a chicken or chopping firewood (because YOU KNOW the Mister was out working the field or wherever and forgot to chop enough for the week), did NOT have time to make playdough for her kid, or make sure her child had some age-appropriate structured play that encouraged gross motor skills and critical thinking. I wonder if this woman even had WINE to which she could treat herself at the end of her long, manual-labor-filled day??

I feel that during this current day and age there are some seriously unrealistic expectations on what it means to be a parent. If you successfully keep your child alive, then I kind of feel like that is a win. That alone is hard enough because many times the amazing synergy of exhaustion, frustration, and impatience has you wanting to kill your own child (do NOT lie to me about experiencing this feeling, folks). And in most other species, just birthing their offspring is all that is required of them.

Now it's probably more of a win to raise your child as a positively contributing member of society; however, does that process really require Mommy (or Daddy) guilt over not "being fully present", not choosing organic, not breastfeeding, not using "positive discipline", or not keeping my zen cool on a consistent basis? Isn't enough that we keep our children fed, sheltered, and warm (which may or may not require clothing)? I don't know. These are the questions I have. I feel like there has to be some social science study on this out there somewhere about the evolution of parenting and parental roles. Or there should be a study done. I want to know WHY there exists this pressure to raise super-humans. I mean, I am no perfect superhuman (it pains me to say), so how could I expect that I have the skill, knowledge, or resources to raise another human being into a superhuman when IN FACT the beauty of being human is that we are all so terribly, and hopelessly flawed???? *SIGH*