Happy Mother’s Day!

Sweden is rightfully proud about how great it is to raise children here. Of course, compared to the US, most countries are ahead of things. (Shame on you, America!)

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Sweden, meanwhile, is embarrassed that they’re only in third place for the “world’s best place to be a mom” – you’ll notice that this article specifically calls out the US and Somalia as places that need to get with the program. Now that’s shameful, America. (And just wait until we talk about paternity leave!)

In addition to the usual commercialized sentimentality of today’s holiday, here is an excellent piece from one of my favorite writers, Anne Lamott – a 2010 article in Salon magazine called “Why I Hate Mother’s Day.” She reminds us that it isn’t only moms who do the mothering, that not everybody has a very motherly mother (I’m lucky that I have a great mom!), and that not all women want to or are able to have children, and that in no way diminishes their value as people, or as women.

 

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One Response to Happy Mother’s Day!

  1. Erika says:

    Hej,
    I read and did not particularly like Lamott’s piece: how self centred is she? Couldn’t it be about someone else, without necesssrily be about putting her down.
    It is special being a mother – that said, today I truly resented my kids for being spoilt and lazy.
    Of course there are other things to life, and no, mothers are not superior. However, it should be allowed to rejoice in something important to you. Things change, nothing lasts forever: it would be nice to be able to celebrate something ig it feels good.
    My daughters wished me happy mother’s day yesterday. Having said thst, I spent my day and night doing work for the EU election :-)

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