I think back in the olden days mothers were though...

2009-10-31T15:39:02.108-07:00

I think back in the olden days mothers were thought entirely competent if their children were alive AND wearing shoes.

We put too much pressure on ourselves now to be perfect parents -- like "on" all the time fostering attachment and stimulating mental and emotional development, etc. etc. but of course we get tired and exhausted. This is normal.

The trick I think is to forgive yourself -- like we forgive our children for being children, we've got to forgive ourselves for being moms.

Again, old, sorry if this is now totally irrelevan...

2009-02-22T17:56:00.000-08:00

Again, old, sorry if this is now totally irrelevant, but...:

I prefer the idea of interdependence; neither wholly dependent on others, nor pretending to exist solely independently, but rather recognizing that we exist as individuals within a web of others, who support us and whom we support, who depend on us and whom we depend on; which I find a particularly apt metaphor for babyhood, since it is not just the baby's physiology that is dependent on the mother's, but the mother's is also dependent on the baby (to drain and stimulate her breasts, to be an object for her affections, etc). "Independence" is an illusion, that is at least as pathological taken to extremes as "dependence" is. I wish for my child(ren) to know and recognize and embrace their interdependence with the whole of creation.

And two Hathor comics: http://www.thecowgoddess.com/2006/02/13/interdependence/ http://www.thecowgoddess.com/2006/02/17/centered/

Comments on Hobo Mama: A distaste for dependence

I think back in the olden days mothers were though...

Again, old, sorry if this is now totally irrelevan...