femmedium

punk phd / feminism / motherhood

Tuesday, September 15, 2015

Motherhood and Boredom

I read an article in Grazia last week from a woman who spoke of motherhood being boring. It seems a statement like this can create quite a stir when said out loud as the general consensus is that no mother should ever claim to be bored by motherhood. But why? Would the same feelings be generated had a father expressed such thoughts? It seems that by virtue of being a woman alone, motherhood should be something we find automatically fulfilling and gain a great deal of pleasure from. But I can sympathise with this woman's sentiments to an extent. We spent a year and a half trying for a child, and I really wanted to be a mum. And I love our daughter to the moon and back. However, there can be a degree of boredom to doing the same things day in, day out. Plus being at home looking after our daughter now means I feel it should be my responsibility to also do more around the house (read: housework rather than DIY). And I have never found domestic tasks enjoyable. Being inside the same four walls each day doing a repeat rendition of sleep, eat, play can at times get boring. Like with anything else that you do on repeat. It's that routine which can get boring, not the child themselves. So I can sympathise with this woman and I support her in voicing these thoughts. Perhaps there are more mothers thinking exactly the same but are just worried about being judged for speaking out.

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