First Lady Michelle Obama
First Lady Michelle Obama addressing the crowd Tuesday, September 4th, during the 2012 Democratic National Convention held at the Time Warner Cable Arena in Charlotte, North Carolina. (From 2012 Democratic National Convention)
It’s Friday night and the Manic Mommies are squeezing in recording before the crazy weekend schedule begins.
During our chat, Erin and Kristin talk about getting back to the school routine, crazy craft projects and items teachers need at the last minute, baby bunnies, and why everyone wants to be “just a mom.”
Oh, what color Mrs. Obama was wearing on her nails.
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Ladies….
I love you and your podcasts, but you can’t seriously criticize anyone for using the word “mom” too much, can you? I mean “manic mommies” of all people… Maybe she doesn’t HAVE to identify as mom, maybe she just does.
I still loved you chit chat! Thanks!
@Olga, I think you’ve got us there.
I thought the same thing when I finally got to your podcast. I really started thinking a lot about what you said. And, let me start by saying that I love your podcast. It has been a constant companion of mine for the past however many years. I started listening from the first episode and we have grown up as parents together, even though we’ve never met!
But, I was wondering how you could feel this way about her using ‘Mom-in-Chief’ when you have created an entire, vibrant community that revolves around the idea that, with all of our diversity, we have one very unifying thing in common: we are moms.
One thing I’ve found as a working mother is that we are not men. We do fundamentally change when we become mothers. We tend to balance most of the parenting responsibilities or at least most of the angst, even when we have very egalitarian relationships. Having children changes most of us in a very profound way–and these changes make us (imho) much better employees, much better leaders, much better people.
I appreciate the fact that more and more powerful women are embracing their multiple roles and demanding that employers find ways to make sure we can raise our families and also be fantastic employees. The more we refuse to hide the flexibility we need and figure out ways to produce while also making our kids’ events, the more our society will change to make work-life balance something at least something possible. These changes will be better for men and women–but women have to lead the charge because we’ve been the ones shouldering the burden for the past 25 years.
So, I hope that more women that I look up to will embrace their role as mom and articulate how that makes them better!
I just have to add, in my own defense, that while I brought up the subject, I don’t think I was actually criticizing her for using the term in as much as I was saying the media and the blogosphere were criticizing her. I was citing articles from the media, not my own perspective. At least I think that’s what I was doing. But I’d have to go listen to the show again to be sure! Now, if you’ll excuse me, my kids are looking for me to make pancakes
I understood what you girls were saying (at least how i perceived it..)
There does come a time where, we as mothers, come to a point and say “Yes, we get it, motherhood is a very very hard job, but yes, one of the most important and at the end of the day, most rewarding ones you will ever do. But let’s get on with some other topics that are important to people”….. b/c not every woman listening to the speeches were mothers.
I look forward to your shows every other week, especially the ones where you “complain” b//c it just helps validate all the complaining i do.
Just to chime in – I’m the one who did complain about the amount of times Michelle used the term “mom” in her speech only because, as I watched her, there were a few times when it felt forced.
Of course as one of the founders of Manic Mommies, I do appreciate the irony of the situation. The only way I can explain it is if, in the course of an episode, we kept saying “as a mom” or “I’m a mom” it would feel contrived. You know that fact about us, as we know it about Michelle, which is why it felt a little hammered on during the convention speech. (Which, otherwise, I thought was fantastic and made me a little teary).
As I have often said, I love that motherhood, in fact that PARENTHOOD, can be a great equalizer in so many situations. But motherhood, whether working or stay-at-home, motherhood isn’t all that defines us.
Crackingup with the dog daycare. Yes, seriously. I remember learning my lesson and sending my little lady to a “wonderful” spa like resort for dogs. Well, she wasn’t so thrilled because 1) we weren’t there and 2) it wasn’t her territory. We spent the next week paying for it as she peed on every square inch of the house the week we got back in retaliation. We’ve now decided our own babysitters to housesit. Works out much better and they are young girls that are just excited to be out of their parents house for a few days… we trust them. They’re mostly 19-20 yo book worms.