There can be no denying that the current Yummy Mummy phenomenon has had many positive effects, the most notable of which is probably far more fashionable maternity clothes, but it's also had some grave negative consequences, the first and foremost being a serious bout of wheel reinvention. This summer, for example, we heard, first from England's Daily Mail, and, later, in a copycat article in Canada's Globe and Mail, that "motherhood is boring." Well duh, as Gail Lethbridge of Halifax, succinctly put it in a letter to the editor:
Motherhood boring? Excuse me, does Rebecca Eckler and her bevy of bored mummies actually think they are inventing the idea of boredom in motherhood? I hate to spoil the party, ladies, but this is not news.
Remember Betty Friedan and Sylvia Plath? They were saying the same thing in the early sixties, but unlike the smart, middle-class, uninvolved mothers (SMUMs) quoted in the article, they were saying it with poetry and panache.
Too true, Gail, and what's more the boredom thing is not the only rediscovery. For some bizarre reason today's Moms seem to think they are the first generation of hipster mothers and just can't get over the fact that they're Mommies and cool too (or at least think they're cool), as if that's never ever been done before. Well, Tearfree is here to tell you that just as mothers have been bored out of their minds with certain aspects of motherhood for centuries, so too have there always been hip cool moms.
Once again ladies, this is not news. Hip mothers have been around forever and the hippest of them all understand their place in the grand scheme of things. So as a reminder that billions have gone before us including millions of awesome rockstar mothers, Tearfree is giving you three shining examples of hip cool moms from yesteryear and encouraging everyone to nominate their own candidates. Here at RTK, we are committed to never ever reinventing the wheel.
HIp Mom, number 1, Susanna Moodie (photo on top)
Stuck in the bush with five, count 'em, five kids before flush toilets, AfterBite, and wireless communications, and with an oft absent husband, Susanna Moodie not only kept the homefires burning, she also managed to write several books. Sure, she could have used some of that marvellous lip plumper that anonymASS informed us was invented in Ottawa, but Susanna's still a total rockstar, so much so that Margaret Atwood wrote a bunch of poetry about her and even Tearfree, who absolutely hates camping and sees nothing morally elevating in it, thinks Mrs. Moodie was amazing.
Hip Mom, number 2, Jacqueline Kennedy
Tearfree doesn't care about JFK's fooling around or Jackie's subsequent marriage to Ari, she was still the 20th century's yummiest famous Mummy.Hip Mom, number 3, Margaret Thatcher
She became Prime Minister of England and that's good enough for Tearfree. Everything else pales in comparison to that achievement.
Comments are open for more hippest moms ever nominations.
Update: Read more on "The Escalation of Cool" when it comes to all things motherhood.
19 comments:
I nominate myself. Sixteen years ago, I had my first child at 26. I was alone -- none of my other friends had kids at that age.
In a possible reflection of how young I was myself, the children listened to my music.
I would not allow any Barney, and no children's music at all really. Why the hell would I allow Sharon, Lois and Bram when there were bands like The Cure and Cracker kicking around? My daughter clamoured for Nirvana at an early age, frequently toddling up to me with the CD case in hand pleading with me to put on the "Baby Swimmers," a name she'd come up with for Kurt and the boys because there was a photo of a swimming baby on one of the album covers. My son, similarly, was heavily into Oasis and Blur, blissfully unaware in his babyhood of the seething feud between the two bands. I also limited children's programming to only the really good PBS stuff, no godd**mned Barney. Instead I read them lots of books and we painted and did arts and crafts and hung out in the garden or went for lots of walks.
My children are now huge music fans and heavy readers.
Was I bored at times? Sure. Who wasn't? The playground was always sheer tedium, particularly in the middle of the winter when the swings were frozen. But why is that considered news?
My mother's generation was quietly getting drunk or relying on "Mother's Little Helper," also known as Valium, to get through the boredom. What parent doesn't get bored to tears at times, particularly in the toddler years?
Other rockstar Mommmies from the past, in my opinion:
Ethel Kennedy -- had oodles and apparently let them run wild, against the "children should be seen and not heard" attitudes of her generation
Princess Di
Linda McCartney
Margaret Trudeau -- she might have been a flake, but she was a young, beautiful and loving mother
Hilary Clinton
Great list. I though of putting Ethel on mine too, but it would have been too Kennedy heavy. I'm in total awe of how she produced those 11 (Or 12 or 13??) kids and kept her figure in the pre-yoga, pre-pilates, pre-spinning days)
Agreed, Tearfree. And I didn't nominate myself for vanity purposes. I was trying to make the point that so-called hip mommies have been with us forever, as long as there's been motherhood, and so have bored mothers. I understood that as a young mother. Never at any point did I think I was doing or experiencing anything remarkable beyond the remarkable love I felt for my own children.
I wonder how this younger generation of mothers (some of them, not all, of course -- look at Emily!) have managed to convince themselves they are hipper and cooler than any other generation of mothers?
The new cool Moms aren't only annoying because they think they invented the genre, they are also missing the central most fulfilling and enlightening aspect of becoming a parent: it's no longer all about you.
Too bad this generation of navel-gazing mummmies are so intent on staying yummy that they gain nothing from the experience but stretch marks.
Jacy, you're oficially on RTK's hip cool Mamas list.
Anonymous, you are 100% right. The big lesson is that it's no longer all about you, which is what makes the boredom bearable.
My definition of Yummy Mummy would be about attractive ladies not brave, alone, to be respected for achievement ladies, etc,.
The only one mentioned so far in all the lists is Lady Di, WOW.
Tearfree: Yummy mummy=Hot Mom=MILF.
jp
Reading skills, jp, reading skills. the title says "hip cool mamas" not "MjpLF."
You can be cool without being babe-alicicious.
Oh yeah, how could I forget this one?
Granny, a former COW, and, in real life, a Great Granny looking after her great grand kids.
Check her out
http://rocrebelgranny.blogspot.com/
your all just jealous because us young cool hip moommmie are like way prettier and skinnier than you bitches!!
your all JUST JELOUS!!!!
I really despise the whole MILF thing. I think it's disgusting, and mysoginistic in too many ways to get into. I also hate the whole Yummy Mummy thing. Please.
I would love to be skinny again, but I'm too busy parenting a toddler right now to spend half my day counting calories, and the other have doing pilates by the pool. Ahem. Nor do I have the cash for a personal trainer, nanny and cook.
As for Cool Hip Mamas, well, Princess Di is high on my list, as is Margaret Thatcher. And Jacy. She sounds awfully cool and hip too. Oh, and don't forget Tearfree...that's one super cool, crazy hip Mama.
Hey 40 are you reading this?
2 days in a row I'm getting bashed, and I appreciate the support on the last issue, but it is as if I am saying one thing and everybody reads something else!
The only difference I see is 2 with fake boobs and 2 without!
Oh, and Britney has a very attractive face pregnant or not.
I can't be tied up sorting out people's impression of what I am writing all day. I have to go be bored with my career choice.jp
jp: you have to know your market and figure out where they are coming from before you run off at the keyboard.
My first question is, Did you read the link? More than likely not.
I think you reacted because you saw the words Yummy Mummy.
Being a man when I see words like that I immediately go the way you went, but you failed to realise your audience and the sensitivity of the issue of looks that start pre-teen and never end.
Who, by the way, are this blogs audience.
I'm not sure I get the boobs comment. Brittney is cute either way.
I really hope for ninegrams sake she is breath takingly drop dead take my breath away gorgeous.
I love the MjpLF, if I try the same thing it just does not sound as cool M40ANBLF!
I nominated my Mom. She proved again how great she is recently after emergency surgery.
Thanks. Granny's a late arrival on this one.
My nomination (and no I didn't know her personally, thank you very much).
ECS
Alberta Rancher, I agree that MILF is inherently misogynistic although I can live with Yummy Mummy.
Heard about a mad cow on the news...
What mad cow, Tearfree? There's no mad cows here. Didn't I say that BSE is just a conspiracy started by people who hate Alberta Beef?
I'm a little sleep deprived these days, so putting some thought into hip mamas would be difficult right now. But regarding jacy's comment:
"I wonder how this younger generation of mothers (some of them, not all, of course -- look at Emily!) have managed to convince themselves they are hipper and cooler than any other generation of mothers?"
I consider myself neither hip nor cool. I yam what I yam, and that's OK by me. So there's one young mama who could give a rip how cool she is. Plus I know what, once the boys reach a certain age, NOTHING I can do will be hip or cool.
jacy, you played Cracker and Nirvana for your kids - you are so cool. And thanks for banning Barney in your home - I'm doing the same. Did you know They Might Be Giants has some kids albums out? I haven't bought them but I'm sure they're good. Jack has heard everything, and was into Foo Fighters for a while. He's rocked out to everything from bluegrass to Jerry Lee Lewis to Foo Fighters, you name it. He's got some kids albums but he's not really into them (thank goodness).
i am like so hot, 40 and no boat! um like hot hot hot!!!
and you guys are like so dumb because like i didnt steal the idea from like a british paper like no wya i stole it from the los angeleses times!!
http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/commentary/la-oe-schickel5aug05,0,7794534.story?coll=la-opinion-center
When does the boredom set in...or am I the only one with a kid that doesn't leave me time to get bored?
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