Nowadays how we parent seems to be under much more of a scrutinising glare than it was for our own mums.
“Sure you did that growing up and it did you no harm!” we hear our mums saying, when we express worry about our parenting choices. And it’s true, how we were reared served us fine, but for some reason this generation of mums find themselves under pressure to be this elusive, unachievable thing – perfect.
And we think that the Internet, much as we love it, definitely has its part to play in that. With the likes of celeb mums and parents sharing the seemingly ‘perfect’ parts of their lives on social media, many of us feel like we’re chasing our tails, anxious about our capacity as mums.
Well one mum is saying ‘no more’, and we’re right behind her!
Mum and blogger Bunmi Latidan (who describes herself as a writer and ‘ass-wiper’ by the way!) posted a funny and oh-so-true post about her son’s seemingly ‘terrible’ Saturday activity.
Her son was playing with some plasticine, eating strawberries and watching some telly.
But the clever way she spoke about it shows how things have all gone a bit… well… mad.
“My son is watching Paw Patrol while playing with clay and eating strawberries. To previous generations of parents this would be perfectly fine and look like a darn good Saturday morning but to ours...” began the witty post.
“1. The strawberries aren't organic and are therefore just fruit-shaped poison bombs.
2. Screen time? It's scrambling his brain. He should be outside catching butterflies in an organic cotton onesie and $45 dollar baby sandals designed for growing feet. Don't forget to capture the memories on a $500 camera and then edit them in Photoshop before sharing online.
3. Dollar store play contains lead. How do you not know that? Good look [sic] getting him into college.
4. That Spider-Man mat looks like it has BPAs. He eats on that?”
She then says that we’ve got so much noise in our ears all the time about how to be better parents, but she is standing up and refusing to listen.
“Whatever,” she finished with defiance and more than a touch of sarcasm. “My son's going to enjoy his TV, toxic snack, and questionable crafts. It's good enough for us.”
She’s right to!
