Heard any of these before: What kind of mother would say such a thing? Any woman that calls herself a wife ought to do better. I would have never done it that way. In my day…
Or, have you said them to yourself trying to squeeze into a mold twenty years too small? Are you saying them to someone else and wondering why they just can’t get it right?
Truth is, there is no right.
“I’m Every Woman, Remixed Stories of Marriage, Motherhood, and Work” (Lonnae O’Neal Parker) confirms it. I didn’t buy the book because of the title. Frankly, I was at Barnes & Noble running from every woman I was. I needed solace, not a battle cry. But, the sub-title wiggled its way into my discomfort zone.
The stories are an easy read, light-hearted at times and boldly honest at others. She writes as a friend, a chick I know… myself. Just as it’s title suggests, her insights are based on learned conventions of marriage and motherhood, and balancing both with a career, but like most of us, it’s what she learns daily that makes her ‘way’ unique.
Try as I might, I have never been able to limit my children to one hour of TV a day. Rarely are they in bed before 10. I don’t think we’ve ever eaten dinner before 6pm (at least not at home.) We’ve had pancakes for dinner and chicken noodle soup for breakfast.
Seeing it in black and white, I know I can do better. Sometimes I’m on the right track and I feel accomplished, others I suck. Either way, my intent is to champion the cause of long ago women who did what they knew to do. So, as the song goes:
I’m every woman/It’s all in me…/And don’t bother to compare/‘cause I’m the one…
I got this! This is my remix, but I can groove to that too.
