A poem:
I’d Rather be the Father
by Faith Shearin
Right from the start, it's easier to be the father: no morning
nausea, no stretch marks. You can wait outside the
delivery room and keep your clothes on. Notice how
closely the word mother resembles smother, notice
how she is either too strict or too lenient: wrong for giving up
everything or not enough. Psychology books blame her
for whatever is the matter with all of us while the father
slips into the next room for a beer. I wanted to be
the rational one, the one who told a joke at dinner.
If I were her father we would throw a ball across
the lawn while the grill fills with smoke. But who
wants to be the mother? Who wants to tell her what
to wear and deliver her to the beauty shop and explain
bras and tampons? Who wants to show her what
a woman still is? I am supposed to teach her how to
wash the dishes and do the laundry only I don't want
her to grow up and be like me. I'd rather be the father
who tells her she is loved; I'd rather take her fishing
and teach her to skip stones across the lake of history;
I'd rather show her how far she can spit.
I'd be interested in comments from all you mothers out there
1 comment:
As a new mother, I feel that is a depressing way to look at motherhood! I loved the feeling that I was taking care of my son while I was pregnant, and I worried about him through all my nausea. Stretch marks are a mom's battle scars.
This poem places all the responsibility on the mother. Parenthood is a team sport and both mother and father in this poem have the responsibility to raise a mature, Christian woman (who may still be able to out-spit the boys). If this is how we see parenthood, we have a lot of self-searching to do.
Post a Comment