TV Mom

January 13, 2009

Yesterday morning's conversation:

Me: "Noah, please get dressed. This is the last time I am going to tell you. Do you want to be late for school? Camille and I are about to get in the car".

Noah: "Why can't you be more like Sid the Science Kid's mom? She never yells at Sid".

M: "Maybe that's because he gets dressed the first time she tells him"

N: "No, he never gets dressed because he gets to wear the same clothes all the time. Why can't I do that?"

Ugh. So it has been over a week since the kids have seen tv and yet here I am getting compared to a tv mom. It's the first time (but I am sure it won't be the last) that Noah has openly compared me to other moms. I bet that tv mom never has to deal with recurrent pink eye (yes, Noah has it again!), sleeping in a twin bed with two wild monkeys, and an on-going battle with prehistoric silverfish. Must be nice to never have to do laundry because your perfect tv kid just lives in the same outfit but that doesn't seem too hygenic, so you can't be all that "perfect". Damn you, tv mom, for making real moms look bad!

So I headed to yoga class today with these thoughts in my head and I ended up leaving in a much better mood. I love taking yoga classes with older Jewish women at the local Jewish community center. So much better than those power yoga classes I used take on the Marine base...surrounded by young muscular divas...I usually left class feeling sore and old. My older classmates make me feel good on two levels. First, it makes me appreciate having a young, strong, flexible body. I am far from perfect but I can feel my body starting to respond to being back on the mat and that makes me feel good. I will never be anywhere near the muscular diva Marine level, but that's not my goal. But here's the second and perhaps even more important reason I love taking classes with older Jewish women. I love being surrounded by a wide variety of personalities and body types. I love looking around the room and seeing all of us contorted into crazy looking pretzels. I love seeing the bulges, the wrinkles, the bodies of real women who have birthed babies, broken bones, carried pain, and jumped for joy.

Give me a bunch of real women any day of the week...they are way better than those "perfect" tv moms (yet another reason to keep the tv off!). And as much as I would love to always be the perfect mom in my son's eyes, I would much rather strive to be myself and to be happy with that even if it means I yell sometimes and my children daydream about living on a tv show. I will try to yell less, but I will still insist that Noah put on clean clothes each morning.
morninglight mama said...

Oh, I loved this post-- those tv moms have it WAY easy. And I could totally take part in that yoga class-- I definitely have a body that has birthed babies and the consequences are very apparent!

Anonymous said...

Hi Lucia,
Thanks for dropping by my blog! It's always nice to see a new visitor. I love your philosophy in choosing a yoga class . It makes me want to unroll my mat and get back in to my practice. Sigh.
Karen

Anonymous said...

I loved this post too! Wait till you're compared to his friends' moms, who are way more lenient or way more fun (? Hey, I'm fun.) or way more something. Little does he know how GREAT he has it. I think that comes somewhere around college age. (I tell my kids now and then, at the right, humorous moment, what a great mom I am. They get a kick out of it - until the next clash of wills.).

Your yoga class sounds perfect. I just do it on my own at home . . .

Yuck about the silverfish! Try an exterminator. It will be worth it.

Anonymous said...

Darn that sid's mom. Heck, I bet I don't even make it up to SId's grandma on 'cool'-ness level. Ansley told me the other day, she needed a new mom. Tough luck sister....

Ick on the silverfish. Good luck on getting rid of them.

I want to take yoga with you.

Jan

holly b said...

yeah, and Sid's mom dances with him when she drops him off! My oldest isn't at the comparing stage yet, but I suppose it's inevitable. We just started pre-school and the newness is already wearing off. I'm gonna have to come up with some sticker reward system to get in the car in the morning...

The Solley Six said...

I have no idea who Sid the Science kid is but clean clothes are totally overrated. I say go for it- a week can't hurt.

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