When & Why We Attend Mommy University
Are you a mom? Have you attended Mommy University? The year – 2013; the US still had a stable non-twittering President and we Indians still used 500 and 1000 rupee notes. I of course, lived in my own little version of the Little Prince’s planet (population: 1) where I was queen, hostage and lone ranger all in one. The dynamics shifted when the population grew by a 100%, and a wailing infant was added to the sphere.
How then, was I expected to magically transform from the queen ranger to a know-it-all mother? Was there a school where we could enroll for mommying 101? If so, I bet I would’ve failed miserably on that day. In my defense, I believe so would 99.9% of all new mothers. To all those perfectly perfect mothers in the 0.01%, please move on to the next post. What? I said please…
Join my train of thought though; every job on the planet needs some kind of qualification, some experience and some hands on knowledge in the field you are entering. Sure you also have the learn-as-you-go attitude among the startup generation, but even they have some person of authority who’s the actual expert, to guide and support them. I highly doubt NASA would allow me to fly into space, just because I’ve watched so many astronauts fly their space ships (both in real life and in movies).
Wouldn’t it be great if all mothers had a school to teach them every aspect of mothering their tots? Oops I put it out there. With the current standardized education “business”, let’s not put out new ideas where you need to attend this many hours of “schooling” in order to qualify to become a mum. It’s bad enough, even in this day and age, we have so called finishing schools to “teach” young girls to be “proper” ladies, let’s not impose such anguish on a new mom who is already tormented enough. (OK I’m done with the air quotes I promise)
Mom School
What if you knew zilch about exercising and a healthy lifestyle but wanted to be a gym instructor? Granted you can count from 10 to 1 and have a loud and scarily motivating voice. But does that count as an essential prerequisite?
Being perfectly clueless and appearing ingeniously knowledgeable is a tough balance that comes part and parcel of being a mother. For the most part you are this naïve inexperienced novice mother with her training wheels on, but as you soon learn about your new bub (and yourself in the process), you slowly let go and ride the storm as you see fit. If you’ve read my previous post Knock Knock, you will know that this is sooooo me.
Being perfectly clueless and appearing ingeniously knowledgeable is a tough balance that comes part and parcel of being a mother.
Would all this be easier with a course titled ‘Mommying 101’? A space, virtual or physical, where unlike any other school in the world, we are all teachers, mentors and students and all at the same time. Our own version of teacherspayteachers – it’s moms teach moms. And very similar to the teachers in our education system, it is important to remember not to project your own thoughts and ideologies onto the generation you are moulding, but rather guide, chaperon and watch them come into their own.
Mommy University Diploma In Hand
How then, do you graduate and become a ‘MOM’ from day one of holding your child in your hands? Like most things in life you become a specialist only by doing. You will not be an expert on day zero, but trust me you are heading there. Just like everyone who is anyone says, each child is different, the same rings true to mothers too; no two moms are alike.
But then the crucial and fundamental question of all – what makes you an expert? Is it about number of years of experience or the number of children in your own little brood? This I may not know, but one thing’s for sure – you can only be an expert at bringing up your own kids. No one in the world can tell you otherwise, not an expert soccer mom, not a working mom of four, not even your own mother or Oprah herself.
After all, your shoe doesn’t fit the entire village and you don’t need an elite degree to tell you that. If you do however, here’s a fun one from me, made especially for you.
Feel free to download the blank option by clicking DOWNLOAD below and let me know how it goes! Can’t wait to hear your thoughts… comments, comments, comments!
