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Solo Mom Lit

The PTA mommies that volunteer at J's school fill me with unspeakable guilt. A few months ago, I was stuck in with a room full of them and squirmed with acute discomfort. Everything about them accentuates what I lack in the model-mommy department - the perfect coif, the French manicure, the oodles of time to spend reading to the kids, assisting the teacher with craft projects and organizing the bake sale. And that is just the start of their fantastic resume of mommy-accomplishments.

The pinnacle of my mommying is being able to keep up with J's homework, know the names of her friends and teachers and do the weekly catch-up of what went on at school. On a very lucky weekend we may even get an art project done or catch an open air concert. Though, I don't fit the demographic of the typical Mom lit protagonist, I am definitely curious about the modern mommy angst - particularly if they are the kind that lack the wherewithal to tool around the burbs in SUVs getting the kids through their over-booked schedule of activities.

If mom lit is the sequel to chick lit, the most realistic next step from there is solo mom lit. God knows "happily ever after" is more exception than the rule for marriages today which makes sure there are enough of us around to make for a readership quorum of the genre.
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Anonymous said…
Hi HC,

I have been reading your posts for sometime now. But never bothered to leave a comment.

you seem to be a smart lady, rearing a child all by yourself. I know how difficult it is to manage a kid & working full time inspite of having a supporting husband. But from your posts I never understood the reason why you are single. Since your posts do not describe why you left your husband. I hope you have not parted ways for any superficial reasons. Some compromises goes a long way.

God Bless and good luck.

- Kavitha
2:37 PM
Devra said…
You are doing a great job as a parent, they may be doing a great job too, but like so many things in life, outside appearances may not tell the whole story about you or about them. You all might be more alike than you are different. Try to give yourself some slack, and you may find you also give some to those uber moms too.

I rememember last year I was at my son's school and another mom said "You volunteer all the time. I always see you here." I then explained to her that half the time she sees me it is because I forgot which day I was supposed to come in and came in on the WRONG day! So while it looked like I was volunteer extraordinaire, I was far from it! Enjoy your parenting as much as possible and try not to let what you think others are thinking get in your way!
10:13 PM
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