Not talking about your kids..

Can you do it?

This topic recently came up on our forum, and it really sets the mind rolling. Our esteemed administrator has granted me permission to reprint her post:

Can you do it? I'm not saying not bringing up your child at all in conversation, but can you talk about things beyond your child? DH and I were talking about this last night and I was venting to him about how going out with the moms with my playgroup always ends up with us all talking about our kids. That's it. No one really talks about us...as people beyond our roles as mom and wife.

How many does this ring true for? Isn't it the truth? Do we not all, as mothers, sometimes find ourselves identifying ourselves as "such's mom" or "such's wife"? What happened to hello, my name is Ashley? Yes, I think we all find ourselves pondering this at some point in our mommyhood. The question is, to what degree, and to what end?

I personally think we are all going to do this to an extent. Period. I mean, when I have a few minutes away from my kids, I don't want to be talking about them constantly. However, I think it is obligatory to spend the first few minutes of a gathering exchanging child updates, because really, if you don't, then people wonder what kind of mother are you. Of course, after this obligatory exchange of information that no one is really interested in, your children should be in the back of your mind only. You are always going to be a mother above and beyond everything; but, you need to be a person too.

So, in light of this thought, let's all take 5 minutes to be (insert name here) today. And then, we can go back to being mom.


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http://mothershideaway.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=132