“Develop your 'Mommy Glare'” and 'Do not read parenting
magazines”.
I listened to her. Mostly. I have the glare down but I
couldn’t help but peek at a few magazines along my 7-year journey of motherhood.
Some of them are simply loaded with crap that make mothers feel inadequate.
I’m wondering if the drug companies have stock in these parenting magazines because after all the ladybug cupcakes that wound up looking like warty toads, the ocean themed birthday parties that looked more like a haunted swamp, the play-dates that imploded, and the dust bunnies that are now dust elephants, we begin to think there is something wrong with us and wind up on an anti-depressant.
“Why don’t these frickin' cookies look like the picture?!” is a serious explosion, not to be taken lightly, for a woman caught up in the idiotic ideals of what a mom should be. You’d think, by now, we’d know better but these magazines sell millions of copies. Millions. Their subtitle should be “Driving Moms to Meds Since 1984”. Or something.
We're not all DIY-ers. We're not all able to "whip up" a gourmet dinner for our family in 20 minutes. We're not all super moms with mad multi-tasking skills. We're just not. And that is just fine.
Thanks to all the amazing parenting mags (online and in print) that have sprung up over the years to help so many moms feel less alone, more "normal", and care less about the pink troll cake they made for their daughter's princess-themed third birthday party. Rock on.
