What Do You Want For — or Instead of — Mother's Day?
Plus: My take on a guilt-inducing screen time meme.
First, I want to thank those of you who’ve already taken my book research survey — I am going through the responses and they are amazing. For those of you who haven’t yet, there is still time! Essentially, I’m collecting anecdotes for my book (everything will be anonymized); it’s under 10 questions, and you can answer as many or as few questions as you’d like.
I didn’t realize until three days ago that this Sunday is Mother’s Day. And then I was like, “….oh.” Don’t get me wrong, my husband and kids try to make the day special, and I often really do have fun. But mostly, the day and its implications make me angry and resentful. I mean, if our country really cared about women and mothers…. well, I know you know.
So for our discussion thread this week I want to know: What do you want for Mother’s Day — or instead of Mother’s Day? You can go as little (8 hours of sleep) or as big (a ceasefire in Gaza, paid parental leave, reproductive rights, subsidized childcare) as you’d like. Bring your hope, frustration, rage — whatever you need, this thread is your safe space. (I mean, be kind and respectful to each other, but you always are!)
What do I want? Honestly, I don’t even know. I feel so out of touch with my wants these days. Recently, a therapist asked me, “What would your ideal life look like, if you could envision it?” And I couldn’t. I said I had no idea.
But I also know certain things I want for the world. I want all the big things I listed above. I want Trump to be held accountable. I want less judgment and more curiosity. I want less fear and more hope. I want people to stop conceiving of power and opportunity as a zero sum game. I want people to value care and compassion as much as they value strength and toughness.
Even just one of those would make my Mother’s Day. It would probably make my decade.
What about you? Share your wants in the comments.
Yet Another Reason to Feel Guilty About Screens?
Keeping with my recent kids and tech theme — be sure to read last Friday’s newsletter if you missed it — I’m going to comment today on this Instagram reel from @ourlittlebluefarmhouse, which has nearly 63K likes:
Yay, another reason to feel guilty for letting our kids use screens — we are robbing them of crucial memory-making experiences! I do get the point she is trying to make here. But I also have concerns about it.