Mother, Writer, Monster, Maid | Vela
In my rush to excel, to shine, to be a good wife and mother, I have done nothing but ensure my labor will be lengthy and unpaid.
This was a really good read touching on the intersections between motherhood, marriage, work, creativity, and self-interest. While I didn’t identify with everything, I did see parts of myself in a lot of what Rufi Thorpe wrote here. I struggled after Emma was born to find a good balance between being a mom and wife and making time for myself, and I definitely felt — and sometimes still feel — like my “labor,” as the quote above calls it, is not only unpaid but unrecognized and/or unappreciated. But, things get easier as time passed, as I gained experience, as I began to accept that this is a particular phase of life. I started to figure out how to toe the lines between all of the forces acting on me. The balance in my life isn’t perfect and probably never will be, but it ebbs and flows and evolves and I like to think I’ve gotten better at just going along for the ride.
The Secret History of the Women Who Got Us Beyond the Moon | National Geographic
Many of the women that saw them didn’t know exactly what a computer was, but they were very skilled at math and there weren’t many career opportunities for women in science at that time. The options were generally teacher, nurse, or secretary. So when these women had an opportunity to get a job at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory it was very exciting.
If you like this article, check out the book that it’s about — Rise of the Rocket Girls by Nathalia Holt. I read it a couple months ago and thought it was an interesting look at the early days of JPL and some of the first women to work on space exploration.
Excuse Me While I Lather My Child in this Toxic Death Cream | Sarah Kallies
I am just sick and tired of all the rules. Rules about food. Rules about hygiene. Rules about clothing. Rules about schooling/education. Rules about development. Rules about medication. Rules about sleep methods/co-sleeping. Rules about playtime. Rules about friends. Rules about car seats. Rules about breast feeding. Rules about child wearing. Rules about television. Rules about the rules.
I want to buy this woman a drink and say “I hear you.” (And for the record, we regularly use both Banana Boat and Neutrogena sunscreen which are always on the “bad” list. But you know what? It’s available at pretty much any store I go into, and it keeps us from getting sunburned. The end.)
Welcome to the Bad Mommy Zoo | Boston Globe
A funny take on the “mommy wars.”
Men Who Marry Intelligent Women Live Longer, Happier Lives | Wes Moss
Lucky Jose! 😉
I haven’t read the entire first article, but I feel a lot of this woman’s problems can be summarized in this one sentence:
“My husband leaves at five in the morning and gets home at eight in the evening most days”
But being a mother is ridiculously hard, no matter how you do it. I really cannot fathom how people used to have 10 or more children, as my great-grandmothers did.