Drops of WHA???
So recently this Drops of Awesome thing has been floating around the internet. Yeah, I deliberately didn't link to it because I hate it. Is hate a strong word? Okay, I strongly dislike it? For those of you who aren't raising young kids and whose friends might not link to stuff like this, let me set the scene. There are mommybloggers who write about the joys/sorrows of raising kids. This is the main purpose of their writings. Every so often one of these ladies will write something uber inspirational and the internet will be up in arms, and everyone will post it on their facebook and I will scoot on over, read it, get my warm fuzzies and move on. Lots of my buddies were posting about Drops of Awesome, so I did my scoot and was slightly horrified at what I found.
Sure, the larger moral is: Don't beat yourself up, you are doing awesome things blah blah blah talk about the Atonement blah blah. The end. I agree to a certain extent. The thing that horrified me was that people actually THINK like the author of the blog (and this isn't a criticism, props to her for finding a way to get over it). People actually second guess every choice they make and every thing they do as a parent or in life. People actually worry so much what everyone else is doing and thinking and saying, that they believe everything they are doing is wrong. PEOPLE THINK LIKE THAT!!! Head scratch. Then I saw sheer number of my friends who posted on facebook about the Drops of Awesome and I thought. What the??? I have amazing friends. Seriously. They are talented, smart, witty, good-natured, kind, good looking. They can do and have done great and important things academically, within their communities, within their families, and at church. They are like McGyver, they can make a lot out of practically nothing. I sincerely hope none of them really feel like the author of Drops of Awesome used to feel.
And yes, before you get up in arms and try to tell me I misunderstood what the author was saying. I didn't. I got it. It just made me sad.
Sure, the larger moral is: Don't beat yourself up, you are doing awesome things blah blah blah talk about the Atonement blah blah. The end. I agree to a certain extent. The thing that horrified me was that people actually THINK like the author of the blog (and this isn't a criticism, props to her for finding a way to get over it). People actually second guess every choice they make and every thing they do as a parent or in life. People actually worry so much what everyone else is doing and thinking and saying, that they believe everything they are doing is wrong. PEOPLE THINK LIKE THAT!!! Head scratch. Then I saw sheer number of my friends who posted on facebook about the Drops of Awesome and I thought. What the??? I have amazing friends. Seriously. They are talented, smart, witty, good-natured, kind, good looking. They can do and have done great and important things academically, within their communities, within their families, and at church. They are like McGyver, they can make a lot out of practically nothing. I sincerely hope none of them really feel like the author of Drops of Awesome used to feel.
And yes, before you get up in arms and try to tell me I misunderstood what the author was saying. I didn't. I got it. It just made me sad.
Comments
I think the more this pitiful talk is perpetuated and celebrated, the more Mormon women are just going to be pushed into this terrible martyrdom that doesn't solve anything or help anyone. Seriously, if you feel that bad about your efforts, buck up and try harder instead of pushing self-validating marshmallow fluff out into the ether where millions of bored lonely housewives will find it. We don't need these sermons about the seemingly insignificant things we do all day. We just do them to get them done. I don't need to give myself a trophy for doing the dishes, I do it because it's my job. It's not a reflection of my lack of dish doing yesterday, nor is it proof that I'm a better person because I did them today.
It's time for us to move on from that. Sweeping the floor is not an end in itself; it's just something that has to get done.
None of this is making sense. It's just that the more I think about that blog post the more I am irked and feel talked-down to.
Maybe I'll gather my thoughts and post a response on my blog.