| I love Instagram. I avoid the political, controversial, stressful here — I've got work and life and Twitter for that. Instagram is my place to watch relaxing stories about updating a home in France, celebrating the beauty of motherhood, admiring art and dogs and poetry and books. I also love that some of the home design 'grammers in my feed have been showing their messy corners, un-updated rooms, chaotic households. And you know why I like this: because our lives are messy. As much as I love being a mother, as much as I adore parenting, I also know it's exhausting, daunting, draining. Moms are expected to be all the things, to do all the things, and to do them in seemingly effortless ways. It's not healthy. I recall years ago talking to someone about the angst I had to make a good dinner every night, after returning from the office, before my partner got home. "You know," she said, "it's not going to kill anyone if you order a pizza and let them eat it in front of the TV." I knew that, truly. But to hear a friend say it released me from some of the tightness I felt every day when my husband, a great sharer of all things household and parenting, wasn't available and I was overwhelmed. So I read with interest about the new book "Mother Brain: How neuroscience is rewriting the story of parenthood" in this piece by Rebecca Gale. Are we asking too much of parents and of mothers in particular? Why do we assume this narrative that they can be all things to all people without skipping a beat? Read on for some interesting takes on the issue. And then go find your happy place on Instagram and escape for a minute. It's ok, really. |
Email
No comments:
Post a Comment