Last night I watched one of my all-time favorite movies, "Mommie Dearest" about actress Joan Crawford's tumultous private life. I hadn't seen it in years and for the first time, found myself identifying with Crawford instead of her daughter.
Don't get me wrong -- I don't abuse my kids, toss cleaner all over the bathroom at midnight, chop off my daughter's hair and scream about wire hangers. She was clearly out of control. But I did wonder what it was like for a single mother in that era trying to raise two kids while working in a high-pressure business. Is that part of what drove her over the edge?
I'm finding that success as a mother has a lot to do with attitude. I'm reading an inspirational book about that, written by a mom of 5. Her take is that the sooner we drop the quest for perfection and really come to terms with what our role is -- and what impact we have -- the happier we'll be. And our kids will be better off, too. I like that idea. I'm working on it.
T
2 comments:
We live in a time where we are supposed to be able to do it all as women and then we internalize the rest of the world's expectations on us and place more on ourselves. Attitude really does have a lot to do with it. You continue to help me to do a reality check with what it means to be a succesful mom and how I should prioritize things in life.
I would love to know the name of that book!
JM
You'll love it, JM. It's called "The bathtub is overflowing but I feel drained: how to defeat mommy stress." In the first chapter, there's a great story about how she came up with that title!
Post a Comment