World"s Best Mum
In the 1950s, the image emerged of a good mother...
June Cleaver from 'Leave It to Beaver.
' Her house was immaculate.
Her make-up and hair were perfectly done at all times.
She baked home-made cookies everyday without ever getting flour on her neatly pressed apron.
And whenever the Beaver managed to get into his latest scrap she always maintained a calm but firm tone.
Over the past 50 years, the family and motherhood have undergone drastic changes.
Today we have step-families that form and sometimes reform based upon the needs of the adults.
Many people lack the culinary skills to boil water let alone bake cookies.
Many large families squeeze into expensive and tight flats instead of the sprawling two-story houses (although that retro furniture would fetch an impressive amount on EBay).
Mums often work hours as long as or longer than dads.
So at the dawn of the 21st century, what is a good mother? My opinion might shock you.
As a child she grew up in a 'broken' home.
After her parents separated when she was only one, her mother gave up her career to care for her children.
They survived on a limited income and she often wore 2nd hand clothes.
As a child, she was awkward and sometimes even picked on for her odd appearance.
As a teen, she wore black, dyed her hair purple, went moshing and even was a cutter.
As an adult, she chooses a highly stressful and erratic career.
She has experimented with both drugs and sex.
She has experienced intense depression which resulted in hospitalisation.
She has even been openly involved in lesbian relationships.
She has been married and divorced...
twice.
She has been in her current relationship for less than five years.
She met him at work while he was married to another woman...
and they began an affair.
She began her family through foreign adoption (She could not adopt in the US because of her history of drug-abuse and mental illness).
She has six children under the age of seven.
She lets them eat junk food.
She has been seen separating the two older boys from fights.
She had caesarean births...
but breastfed.
Did I forget to mention...
she is a fan of body art with multiple tattoos? And she has French kissed her brother.
In case you didn't guess before, you probably know by now...
I think the world's best mum is Angelina Jolie.
Her large, boisterous and unruly brood represent the best that the changing face of the family has to offer.
While they would never fit into the confines of that two-story house with its perfect furniture and crisp white carpets, they clearly exude the confidence born of loving role models.
Their parents have prioritised their family above their careers...
alternating working schedules to always accommodate their growing family.
Yes, they have the resources to afford the luxury of nannies and au pairs to pitch in with their hectic lifestyle, but they remain the primary caregivers for their children.
Will their children grow up to be perfect? Highly unlikely...
but there is little doubt that she will meet each challenge of the teen and adult years with the same unflappable courage of Lara Croft firing her guns as she swings from the trees.
And I would not wish to be the paparazzi who messed with that lioness' cubs.
The moral of the story...
the times they are a changing.
No longer is a single image of motherhood sufficient for our complex world with step-families, half siblings, partners and significant others.
But the key ingredient of successful mothering remains unchanged...
LOVE.
Both June Cleaver and Angelina Jolie have that in abundance.
June Cleaver from 'Leave It to Beaver.
' Her house was immaculate.
Her make-up and hair were perfectly done at all times.
She baked home-made cookies everyday without ever getting flour on her neatly pressed apron.
And whenever the Beaver managed to get into his latest scrap she always maintained a calm but firm tone.
Over the past 50 years, the family and motherhood have undergone drastic changes.
Today we have step-families that form and sometimes reform based upon the needs of the adults.
Many people lack the culinary skills to boil water let alone bake cookies.
Many large families squeeze into expensive and tight flats instead of the sprawling two-story houses (although that retro furniture would fetch an impressive amount on EBay).
Mums often work hours as long as or longer than dads.
So at the dawn of the 21st century, what is a good mother? My opinion might shock you.
As a child she grew up in a 'broken' home.
After her parents separated when she was only one, her mother gave up her career to care for her children.
They survived on a limited income and she often wore 2nd hand clothes.
As a child, she was awkward and sometimes even picked on for her odd appearance.
As a teen, she wore black, dyed her hair purple, went moshing and even was a cutter.
As an adult, she chooses a highly stressful and erratic career.
She has experimented with both drugs and sex.
She has experienced intense depression which resulted in hospitalisation.
She has even been openly involved in lesbian relationships.
She has been married and divorced...
twice.
She has been in her current relationship for less than five years.
She met him at work while he was married to another woman...
and they began an affair.
She began her family through foreign adoption (She could not adopt in the US because of her history of drug-abuse and mental illness).
She has six children under the age of seven.
She lets them eat junk food.
She has been seen separating the two older boys from fights.
She had caesarean births...
but breastfed.
Did I forget to mention...
she is a fan of body art with multiple tattoos? And she has French kissed her brother.
In case you didn't guess before, you probably know by now...
I think the world's best mum is Angelina Jolie.
Her large, boisterous and unruly brood represent the best that the changing face of the family has to offer.
While they would never fit into the confines of that two-story house with its perfect furniture and crisp white carpets, they clearly exude the confidence born of loving role models.
Their parents have prioritised their family above their careers...
alternating working schedules to always accommodate their growing family.
Yes, they have the resources to afford the luxury of nannies and au pairs to pitch in with their hectic lifestyle, but they remain the primary caregivers for their children.
Will their children grow up to be perfect? Highly unlikely...
but there is little doubt that she will meet each challenge of the teen and adult years with the same unflappable courage of Lara Croft firing her guns as she swings from the trees.
And I would not wish to be the paparazzi who messed with that lioness' cubs.
The moral of the story...
the times they are a changing.
No longer is a single image of motherhood sufficient for our complex world with step-families, half siblings, partners and significant others.
But the key ingredient of successful mothering remains unchanged...
LOVE.
Both June Cleaver and Angelina Jolie have that in abundance.
