How often have you felt you needed more support as a mother? 

We live in a society in which mothers are revered and put on a pedestal. 

Mothers are to be held in the highest regard and yet they should be able to do everything ourselves and on top of it look as if we are not tired as hell doing so. We live in a society where our economy depends on motherhood’s free labor. Following the pandemic, more and more mothers had to drop their career altogether. Carrying the mental load of preparing meals, cleaning house, child rearing and working a job is a heavy burden to bear and an impossible one at that. Childcare often costs the same or more for a mother just to be able to work. And then on top of it, workplaces expect a mother to hide their children as if they are some type of leper from the public. Kids get sick, cars break down and inflexible workplaces make an already stressful situation more stressful. 

Now how can we turn such a high tide? 

My outlook is that is all about shifting our consciousness to community-based living. 

“We live in a world in which we need to share responsibility,” said Fred Rogers. We are an interdependent species. We cannot do it all on our own. We need neighbors and friends and coworkers willing to step into our lives when we need help. Putting food on the table is no easy feet and it can be harder enough to look up from our busy wild lives as mothers and yet we have to. We have to resist this cycle that was not meant for us. It reminds me of that new song by Jax, “Victoria’s Secret”. 

I know Victoria’s secret

Girl, you wouldn’t believe

She’s an old man who lives in Ohio

 

Set down the old man in Ohio’s idea of what is best. I am talking about mothers, and it encompasses all parents as well.

What would it be like if children were just woven into our days? 

That if they are sick there is not a debilitating sense of anxiety of how can I find care for them so I can work? 

How much happier and freer would we be if we could just drop the story that my child is a burden to my workflow and create a new world that was not concerned about exploiting a mother’s time and valued the job that is child rearing. 

 

Change yourself, change the world.