Strollerderby : Little Children

Star Wars As Told by 3 Year Old

Rachael Brownell (Redsy) — Wed, 12 Mar 2008 22:34:00 GMT

Star Wars never sounded better:

Imagine how she might explain...

Atonement?

Little Children author nails the "...disenchantment some parents endure"

Melissa Summers — Mon, 30 Apr 2007 21:04:00 GMT

The first time I read Tom Perotta's 'Little Children', my children were past that age when I spent hours of the day caring for their physical needs and felt myself withering under the pressure and monotony of full time child rearing. The book though, was all quite familiar, like the descriptions of the mothers on the playground and at the community pool who closely resembled so many mothers I'd known while trying to claw my way out of the monotony. His description of the main character's, Sarah (played by Kate Winslet), nemesis who deals with her own dissatisfaction with an unending stream of sniping reminded me of a few mothers I've had unpleasant interactions with in the past.

Reading it a second time, I saw a little deeper into the story, past the mothers I see in my day to day life and into that idea that so many of us have felt. And this, to Strollerderby readers, will not come as a surprise but sometimes parenting is really not satisfying for a whole lot of us. Sometimes it feels monotonous and brain leakingly unending and why is that?

This article talks with Perotta and really clarifies what 'Little Children' attempts to shed light on in a universal sense. The movie is out on DVD tomorrow and the article has many spoilers so I won't ruin the story for you here. But if you've read the book, this is a great article which pinpoints what made this novel speak a truth about the experience of being a parent.

Stay at Home Mothers: a Fulfilling Life or a Slow Death?

Karen Murphy — Wed, 14 Mar 2007 15:56:00 GMT

Based on this excellent review by Kim Voynar at Cinematical of the film Little Children, I'm pretty sure I'm never going to watch this movie. At least not without a huge box of tissues by my side, because according to Kim's description of the film's main character, I so relate to the dilemma posed in the life of this stay-at-home mother that I would likely find watching the film hugely painful. Evidently the film and its character struck a major chord with Kim as well, because she wrote a poignant testament to the life of many stay-at-home mothers on her blog Catawampus.

Kim says: These days, here's what society preaches to women:

You can't be fulfilled unless you have a man and a child.
If you have a child, you should WANT to stay home with your baby, all day, every day.
Doing this will make you feel happy and fulfilled and complete in ways you never imagined.
When your kids are older, you can always go right back into your career.

Sound familiar? It does to me. I gave up a ten-year career, admittedly a shitty stress-filled one, but suddenly I found myself attempting to bridge the gap between being single-mom career girl and weeks later being a married woman-with-a-baby, having nothing more to do in the course of a day but care for a cranky demanding baby, eat a bag of potato chips, and have dinner on the table by 6 pm. Then another baby came, and another, and I tried to assure myself (while at the same time being incredibly and unfairly judgmental about mothers who chose to work outside the home) that I felt fulfilled wiping noses and butts and making up inane little songs and baking bread, but secretly, I knew there was something missing: me.

The divorce will likely be final later this year.

That's my story, but what about yours? It's my belief that some people are practically made to be parents, some aren't in the least, and the rest of us try to bridge the gap between one identity and another. I absolutely adore my children but I lost myself along the way. What do you do? Where do you fall? How do you deal with this dilemma, if it is one for you at all?

[Disclosure: Kim is married to our own Jay Allen]