"Mothers in the Middle"

A series on mothers who have thoughtfully navigated motherhood and work and a quick question for you

I searched “middle” in images and didn’t think of this option but honestly, it fits.

I’m getting around to putting out an idea I had a while back when I was commenting on the Harrison Butker speech. (Here¹ and here.)

There’s one area that, I think more than any other, has become a passion topic of mine in this motherhood/culture space, and that is the topic of motherhood and work. There’s so much to parse out.

One thing is that we only want to use the word “work” to describe paid, outside-the-home efforts, and that’s a big problem, as any mother knows that IT IS ABSOLUTELY WORK to care for children and a home.

radical.homemaker

A post shared by @radical.homemaker

That’s one aspect of motherhood/work I want to write about more long-form. (Currently reading an incredible related book I can’t wait to share with you!)

Another I have written plenty about is the dichotomy of “working mom” / “SAHM.” We have a strong narrative, at least here in the U.S., that there are two paths, two identities for women who become mothers, and there are ideas attached to those two paths that tell what kind of woman and mother one is. You pick one, and that’s that.

It’s… the worst.

I’m starting an interview series where I invite real women to share about how they’ve navigated the work of early motherhood and work outside the home. I’m calling it “Mothers in the Middle.”

I’ve named it thus not just because of the great alliteration but because this construct in our consciousness is so strong. It desperately needs pushback. There are many women who are either a) literally in the middle by being home with kids some of the time and doing paid work some of the time, and/or b) existing on one end of the spectrum technically but not at all an embodiment of its accompanying stereotype.

(And then, of course, so many have shifted their motherhood/work situation over time as opportunities presented, their families grew, etc.)

I’d like to talk with them and amplify their voices and experiences, because I think we need to hear them. We need this dichotomy debunked so that we can be free to navigate our own lives as women and mothers without its influence.

A question for you! Should this be written-style questions (like this interview I did with

Sara Dietz

on The Cycle Show)? Or should it be a lil podcast?

Talk soon!

1. I initially paywalled this post, but I decided to un-paywall it. Have a read if you missed it—it breaks down a really a central view of mine.