Bad Moms and Parenthood

Last week I actually took an official day off from my corporate gig to spend a day being a Bad Mom. FoReals! I was invited by eOneFilms to enjoy a day in Wine Country where I not only got to spend a day with some of my blogger friends and meet a few new ones, but I also enjoyed a delicious kid free lunch at Chateau des Charmes winery and enjoyed a preview of the Bad Moms movie which opens in theaters this Friday.

When I originally received the invite, it was a no brainer. I was TOTALLY going to do it and it was going to be a cheat day during my juice cleanse. When I told the hubs about my plan to run away for the day, leaving him at home with the kids (he usually works from home with no nanny on Wednesdays), his reaction was something along the lines of “yeah that seems like something you should definitely do. It’s worth a day off”. Glad he was on board!

First of all let me tell you that Bad Moms is a funny movie and gathering your mom friends for a legit night out is worth the hangover the next day. Honestly, make a full night of it, go for the movie (do it VIP style), enjoy dinner and drinks post movie and maybe even end up at a lounge. If you’ve been waiting for an excuse to sneak out with your gals, this is a great one. While non moms will enjoy the laughs I think this movie will resonate most with moms of school aged kids.

One of the topics that arose after the movie in our blogger circle was about being a “Bad Mom” and the Bad Mom moments we all experience. I know I’ve personally used the #BadMom hashtag on Twitter very early into my motherhood journey only to be quickly shut down by fellow moms who pointed out that I wasn’t being a bad mom, merely a smart mom who knew what she needed and made it happen. While I will say that I completely use the Bad Moms hashtag in jest during those times, I do know that society (and moms themselves) puts serious pressure on having it all. Remember my dilemma about Being a Good Mom and a Good worker? I am a firm believer that we all should take on what we can chew and while you know that I have A  LOT on my plate, you also know that I let lose and unwind very frequently.  In a responsible way of course! The hubs and I enjoy our date nights, we have fun with the kids and we have our friends over for late night sessions on a weekly basis. To top it off, once a month the hubs has his game nights with his boys while I have the gals over for wine and cheese. Making time for the pleasures in life is what most of us forget to do and scheduling it into our calendars seems to the way we ENSURE it happens. Sacrificing some sleep for these nights is TOTALLY worth it.

The Bad Moms movie revolves around moms who decide to be “Bad Moms” after serious mishaps in their previously maintained “perfect have it all lives” only to realize that life and kids work out just fine without overworking ourselves to be the ‘PERFECT in every which way’ kinda mom. No matter what you do in life, there never is any time to do it all and you do have to make sacrifices. I’m more than happy to cut corners and enlist the village to make this parenting world revolve. I also have a great partner on board and that’s one thing that came out in the movie. The movie showcased deadbeat dads and I know the focus of the movie is around the moms and they HAD to depict the dads that way to make the plot work. There’d be no movie called ” Bad Dads” because a majority of dads are always showcased as being “bad”. As unfair as it is, “Good Dad” would be the movie version!

As I enjoyed my three course meal (catered by Vintage Hotels) paired with Chateau des Charmes wines, I, along with another mom at  our table, couldn’t help but think out ” I am enjoying this immensely but it’s really our husbands who could use this day out”. You see, the hubs does way more parenting than I do. He also does all the laundry and is the one who takes out the trash and deals with all the “disgusting” tasks at home. He’s also in charge of the financial errands and making sure the bills are paid on time.  I bet you’re wondering “what on earth do you do?”. Yeah well… I’m in-charge of figuring out our social and vacation calendars and cooking our meals with a healthy dose of parenting. The hubs and I have figured out our roles and it works for us.

As you watch Bad Moms is easy to over analyze and scrutinize the issues present in our parenting society and while that’s great and movies should make us think, enjoy the movie at face value. Laugh out aloud. Laugh along. Gasp at crazy parts. Howl at the insane parts. Most of all, at the end, stand in solidarity with your fellow moms and parents. We’re in this together. Everyone’s kids drive them crazy most days and every parent wants a day off from parenting! There’s no us vs. them and while I haven’t fully entered the whole bake sales and organized PTA groups, I really hope Little Monkey and Baby Boy’s schools are filled with mostly fun loving balanced parents!

Cheers to parenthood. The Good. The Bad & and the Downright Ugly!