Tuesday, August 12, 2008

The great mother-daughter insanity continues
Please someone tell me that eventually you get over having a crazy mother.

Most of my Fabulous Female Friends have, or had, good relationships with their mothers. Me? Not so much. It might have something to do with the fact that I was raised in the 20th century by a 19th century woman. Unlike my other friends, whose parents took it for granted that college was in their future, my mother expressly did not want me to go to college. (Why bother to go to college when all you can hope for is marriage and motherhood?)

Literally since I've been able to think for myself I've thought "how do I be the exact opposite of what they want me to be?" And it hasn't been easy. Oh sure, sometimes, there are wonderful "don't let this happen to you" role models. When faced with a difficult decision, just ask "what would X do?" and then do the opposite. But most of the time it's uncharted water and when faced with extended periods of time with my mother, her unguarded mouth, and extremely weird viewpoint, I find myself desperately in need of some tequila, a hot bath, and a big ego boost. ("You really haven't done much with your life, have you?")

The one great consolation in all of this is that many of the aforementioned FFFs are raising equally fabulous daughters....who they are teaching to be strong, brave, proud, and ready for anything. The only problem is I'm secretly jealous of all these kids for having such amazing moms.

1 comment:

mama d said...

Oh, be ye not fooled. My life with The Blonde (and The Boy) is based on doing the opposite of how I was raised.