Rejecting Perfection: On the Ideal of Motherhood

Photo by Jeffrey

Yesterday was Mother’s Day for many people. While in the UK it is celebrated in March, such is the reach of Facebook, that I twitched at the thought my mum might think I had forgotten to make a fuss of her. I’m ambivalent about commercial days like Mother’s Day, Father’s Day and Valentine’s Day. Even Christmas seems to me to be over the top nowadays. We constantly seek to rein in the exuberance of family when buying gifts for the children. I crave the simplicity of a small to...