Motherhood's trials blown out of proportion (Naomi Wolf whines about the horrors of motherhood)

Sydney Morning Herald ^ | May 1 2003 | Miranda Devine

[dead]

"yuppie kvetching" - over-pampered people in affluent countries whingeing about relatively trivial troubles.

Martha Burke comes to mind.

[Gerish]

I'm sure her intentions are good, but I see alot of whining from her in this article. She should be grateful for her healthy children and it is obvious to me she does not see them as a "gift from God." She also sounds spoiled and seems to wish her life would go back to "normal" when everyone knows that once the kids come along this is just not possible. GET OVER IT!

[Aggie Mama]

I have mixed feelings about this. It is challenging to be a SAHM, and there are days when I just want to walk out the door and not come back. There are days when I look at my A&M degree on the wall and think "what a waste." Then there are days when my children are angels, the planets are in alignment and everyone cleans up after themselves.

With regards to the c-sections: I am to have my 3rd in about 8 weeks. I sure wish I could have had my children "naturally" but I'm so very thankful for the technology that saved my life and that of my children. It's scary as hell to have your abdomen slit open and your arms tied down, but you just have to deal with it.

[chiefqc]

Oh you poor millionaire, you have such a rough life. I suppose there are days when you have to tend to the children all by yourself with the nanny gone for the day.

There was no one forcing you have children, so grow up. You want to whine about something, live in the shoes of the mother on welfare with 6 or 7 children, very little money, a husband out of work and no food.

Be thankfull for what you have and please spare us your whining.

[big gray tabby]

Well, she's on her way to Australia and stuff, and then there was all that travel with Al Gore and stuff. So you can figure it's really the nanny who's dealing with all the little "dependent creatures".

[fml]

I can't when the well-to-do bitch. They buy a clue if they don't get it or hire happiness if they're too dumb to find it.

[TxBec]

Had two c-sections myself... and they were worth it - everytime I look at my kids, i'm grateful.

[dead]

With regards to the c-sections: I am to have my 3rd in about 8 weeks.

Three c-sections in 8 weeks?!?!

You’re not human, are you? 8-)

[Paul Atreides]

I wish that the feminazis could make up their minds: are they strong-willed persons, able to fight on the front lines or are they like Naomi Wolf, and her vision of modern woman, a schizo mess unable to even take care of a baby without whining?

[iranger]

"I'm sure her intentions are good"

I'm sure they are not.

[Temple Drake]

good grief -- the manual labor part is the easiest! It's dealing with impossible conflicts that takes its toll. Anyway, I gave birth to four kids in 5 years, all natural births at home -- and believe me, the giving birth part (manual labor, in a sense, though not really "manual" ...)is not the horror show she seems to think. Once I had the first one, I remember thinking how cool it was, not how dreadful!

[js1138]

There are days when I look at my A&M degree on the wall and think "what a waste."

Not a waste. My wife is a stay-at home mother, and while it has caused endless financial hardship, our kids are the envy of all their friends. A mother's education is never wasted on kids. They benefit in ways impossible to measure.

[js1138]

...her vision of modern woman, a schizo mess unable to even take care of a baby without whining?

Woody Allen comes to mind.

[mabelkitty]

And may her children find out about this and dump her in a government nursing home.

[mabelkitty]

If she is so unhappy and decided to kill her kids, would that be a partial-birth abortion?

I'm thinking those are her intentions.

[Paulus Invictus]

My wife had four C sections and did well on all. The kids are the greatest too! My wife never complained either. She is my hero and I'm grateful to her!

[Saundra Duffy]

Whatever. All I know is I did the best I could and it wasn't easy. Now - SHUT UP ALREADY.

[nina0113]

What a crybaby. If she doesn't want her kids, she can pack them up & send them to me.

[jhw61]

Children whine...it's just normal. Mom's who whine....just annoying. I had my 4 yr. old son at age 38, normal delivery at a great Boston hospital. Had an epidural and episiotomy....no complaints here. Now at home with my son....no complaints here.

My mom had eleven children by the age of 34! I always tease her and tell her that she had to keep having kids until she reached perfection (i'm the 10th child, 4th dtr)!

I live a simple life and would not trade it....so I don't have a house and I don't have the newest van and so on.... So what. We had a lot of love and support from our parents and to me, that's all that mattered.

[luckymom]

I agree- a mom's college degree shouldn't be seen as a waste. The amount of growth, wisdom, and awareness that went along with it will be a valuable resource to her, whether she knows it yet or not. I'm a "retired" SAHM with a college degree, my daughter is graduating on the 17th, and my sons (twins) are finishing their first year. No regrets here- either my own, my husband's, or my parents' who paid for my college years.