HomeTeeter Totter ~ Finding a Balance Between Me-Hood and Motherhood
Gender: female Date of Birth: January 01, 1973 Member Since: September 11, 2007 Last Signed In: November 30, 2008 Blog Views: 8590 Send To A Friend Sign Guestbook Add as a Friend
Tradition Interrupted
Enjoy Your "Day Off!" Building Self Esteem Blogging Tips Ho Ho Ho (or something like it) I Love Cell Phones… I Hate Them Pruning Your Life A Crafty Gift My Husband Martha Food For Thought September 07 October 07 November 07 December 07 January 08 February 08 March 08 April 08 May 08 June 08 July 08 August 08 September 08 October 08 November 08 December 08 Teeter Totter Finding a Balance Between "Me-Hood" and "Motherhood" In this blog I'll be covering as wide a variety of subjects as the duties of a real mom in today's culture. From raising special needs children, family vacations, marriage, relationships, sex, cooking, local to-do, school (both for you and the children), working, hiring a daycare provider, arts and crafts, decorating, holidays, to well... EVERYTHING! No holding back. 
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That’s The Life!
After a nice long chat with my grandmother this morning, I was thinking about being a wife/mother in the 1950’s. I was pondering how different it must have been compared to the lives of busy moms today. They didn’t have to lecture their children to keep their text’s to a minimum for the cell phone bill, monitor their MySpace page, set up web blockers, check show ratings on the TiVo, review/preview the latest video games for violence…. The list goes on and on. It made me think how all this technology really ads to a parents work load. We need a radar more sophisticated than the latest model GPS to keep on top of it all! Was life really any easier back then? Chores and cooking took much longer, as did errands (as a lot of women back then didn’t even drive, like my grandmother.) There were still the dangers of today; Alcohol, peer pressures, drugs, smoking, gangs… You still had to know what your children were up to and who they were with. Back then of course there were also “bad” adults. Teachers who hit, predators at church and next door, now days you know who these people are with five minutes on the computer. Mothers back then dealt with the stress very differently as well; Social clubs, afternoon martini, valum, shopping sprees. They didn’t have a SacMomsClub for support, or even a gym or 5K to work off the stress. They were bred to suck it up and move along with your life in pearls, heels and a smile. So why the nostalgia? Why is that age seen as a “golden age” for “family values?” I personally don’t think it was any better then, just more repressed. We as mothers and woman of today have much more freedom and opportunities. Even though my grandmother loved photography, her job was the house and kids. She was never free to grow as a person and explore her interests, much less make a career of any of them. Once you were married, that was pretty much it! Your life goal was accomplished as soon as you had your first child. Nope, I wouldn’t want to live that life. So why are some of my favorite shows I Love Lucy, Bewitched and The Addams Family? I’m really not sure. I think I enjoy the glossy plasticity of that era. The bubble ideals of it. How life should be, or should have been, not what it really is, or was. In my real life, I’d much rather play Wii with the boys than cook a beautiful roast for my man and his boss. I’d rather blog about my life than meet with the ladies art league and plan an event. I’d rather paint faces all day than chase after my son with a handkerchief for his allergies. Yup, I’m a modern mom alright! And very proud of my mulit-tasking abilities and grateful for my many freedoms and opportunities. (The picture is of my "Nana" doing what she loves. Taking pictures!) 6 comments from 4 users
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posted by
ThatTripletMom
on Apr 30, 2008 at 03:36 PM
posted by
creatress
on Apr 30, 2008 at 04:11 PM
Wow, that's pretty amazing. I didn't know that, but once you said it, I can see it. It's simple to take things like that for granted these days. Even simple things like my mail being addressed to me, and not Mrs. (my husbands name). Ugh!Glad you liked it! posted by
hmoeckli
on Apr 30, 2008 at 04:37 PM
My great-grandmother raised her two daughters (from different fathers) as a single mother in the Lithuanian ghetto of Chicago in the 1940's. She really didn't fit into the mold and she faced years of ridicule and pain because of it. Single mothers have it hard now, but it certainly is not as disdainful as it was to be single and have children then. Ah, to be modern women! posted by
creatress
on Apr 30, 2008 at 04:54 PM
I thank my stars every day that I'm not a single mom. I don't know how they do it! Wonder Women for sure!!
posted by
AmandaS
on Apr 30, 2008 at 09:49 PM
I once had a similar conversation with my 87 year old neighbor who raised 5 kids in a 1200 square foot house. She said that the one thing that made her life easier in the 50s and 60s was that they only had one car. On the surface, this may seem "harder" but she said the beauty of it was that since her husband took their only car to work, she was off the hook trying to run errands all day! ;-)
posted by
creatress
on May 1, 2008 at 08:10 AM
Hahhaa, I never thought of that!We only had one car till our son was three. I definitely didn't see it as a plus AT ALL! On the bonus side, I was much thinner as we just walked everywhere.
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On the surface life seemed simple for a woman. But on the inside, there wasn't much that was socially 'allowable' for her.
I come from a line of fierce, independent women, on both sides. But still they were limited. My Naval officer father had to sign a power of attorney to allow his wife to cash his paycheck and manage the bank accounts while he was at sea for 6 months at a time. His wife! In the early 60's! Almost unheard of these days.
This is an interesting topic. Thanks for making us think.