It Was So Much Easier Then

Apparently when people my age were younger and raising children, we had it easy, or so it seems when listening to many parents today. We were never tired or overwhelmed, never wanted to run away, and everything went smooth as silk each day. Our children were a delight every moment and never tested our patience; everything was roses and sunshine.

Okay, you can stop laughing now.

I guess every generation thinks that the one before them (or after them) had it a bit easier than they did. There is no doubt that there were times I thought my mother had it easier being a stay-at-home mom, but I did not stop to take into consideration she was the mother of six – not an easy task for sure. Perhaps there were times as she looked at my life as a mother, she might have thought how great it was that I was able to go out each day and work outside the home. A respite from motherhood where I was able to have adult conversations each day.

Perception is reality as they say, but we all know that what we see is far from the reality for every mother. There are those who make it look easy and seem to show no signs of stress and their children act like little angels. Then there are the ones who appear to be in a state of constant disarray with their children running around like wild urchins. I have a feeling that most of us feel like the latter on most days.

It does not matter what generation you are from; motherhood is not an easy career. The job description is pages long and our role includes not only mother, but nurse, maid, cook, housekeeper, chauffer, tutor, and much more. We will at times be Girl Scout leaders or Den Mothers depending on whether we have daughters or sons, coaches in softball, baseball or some other sport, school volunteers, or members of the PTA or school boards in our communities. The list is too long to mention them all.

Along the way many of us will sometimes feel that we are doing it all wrong, that we are failing in some way. And even though we do have our bad days, the reality is we all are good mothers doing the best that we can. And even on the tough days our children will love us anyway.

No matter what generation we are from being a mother is never easy, and each generation faces challenges. If we are lucky, we will have other mothers and friends that will step in and support us when the going gets rough; our band of motherhood fairies that will get us back on track.

There is no such thing as the perfect in mother. We just get up each day and move forward with love and the best intentions in our hearts. And that is as close to perfection as we will get.