Nov 22 2008
Middle-Class Mom Madness
Why? Why do middle-class moms run themselves ragged? They try to raise good kids with every advantage, opportunity, and learning experience. If they are married, they also try to keep that relationship vibrant. Often, all of this is at the expense of driving themselves nuts….But there are other ways to make it work. Look to our sisters to the south.
In Central and South American upper middle-class families, it is common to have household staff – in other words, a maid. Sometimes the maid is live-in! This lends itself to asking that staff person to also, watch children, walk the dog, and be de facto security. I have a friend who grew up in an upper-middle class family in Mexico. Now she is living the life of nutsy middle-class mom in Pennsylvania. When her own mother comes north to visit, the abuela (Grandmom) is appalled. She is shocked at all that her daughter undertakes on her own and insists that her daughter will become sick. Grandmom feels that no one human should be doing all this chauffeuring, shopping, cleaning, cooking and so on by herself.
It’s something to consider, isn’t it?
