The Secret Life of A Soccer Mom

3 Comments

Comment by Star on March 14, 2008 at 2:39pm

I agree wholeheartedly! I was also VERY disappointed about how they approached all of it and I felt that it was approached in a very flippant way instead of giving the subject the respect it deserves. I with the people from SuperNanny had made the show...they make a show about a very sensitive subject of parenting and people's feelings and families and how they were raised and yet somehow you feel like they are very respectful about the subject manner and you can actually learn from it. The only thing I felt good about with this show is that the host is pregnant. That is so rare and at least makes the statement that pregnant women can be beautiful hosts too even if they aren't supermodel Heidi Klum ;) Thanks for your thoughts and for sharing that you also were insulted by this show.

Comment by Pascale on March 14, 2008 at 4:50pm

I wrote a flaming thought process rant on my personal family blog about it. I was beyond infuriated with it. If I can figure out how to cut and paste maybe I'll post it in a comment here.

Comment by Pascale on March 14, 2008 at 5:05pm

Here is my blog entry that I cut and pasted:
So I watched the premiere of "Secret Life of A Soccer Mom" last night at 10 pm when I SHOULD have been sleeping (yeah, right) or catching up on work.... I sat up and watched stupid reality TV and vegged out (for once) while silently (or not so silently) cursing the producers of the show. Granted the premise is a good one and it puts media focus and the general public's attention on a very important subject matter. The idea behind the show is that they find a long time stay at home mom who gave up a lucrative career/dream/goal many moons ago when she decided to stay home and raise her kids. The women they choose for the show have most likely spent time working in their chosen field not to mention devoted a great number of years of training and education towards said career (specific degrees and schooling for said line of work). But they gave it all up when they became moms. So they take these women and tell the families that the women are going away to a week long spa reward and let the hubbies stay home and "take care of everything." And while everyone thinks the mom is getting pampered she is actually being given the opportunity to work in her desired (sometimes former, sometimes dream) field and gets to experience being a "working" mom and seeing for herself whether the grass is actually greener. Well it all sounds dandy but is hugely flawed. For starters, speaking as a working mom, I don't have the luxury pf getting whisked away to a hotel room during the week to get the job done and blissfully leaving behind all the huge obligations that come with family life like OH I DON'T KNOW... cooking, cleaning, homework, bath time, laundry, groceries, paying bills, driving kids around to school and various activities, dishes, packing lunches, meal preparations, and so on and so on ad nauseum! It's totally unrealistic to call her experience anything akin to that of a real working mom. The stress of the "working mom" involves the intense juggling act of a career intermingled with the hugely pressing and all consuming needs of children and family life and home life all jumbled into one big complicated package. So, taking her away from the chores and demands of her family, life, kids and responsibilities so she can focus exclusively on the "working" part of the "working" mom title does not encompass the reality of the situation by any stretch of the imagination. That said, it was truly inspiring to see this woman in the premiere fall so quickly and skillfully into her new "job" after being out of it for 10 years and doing a FABULOUS job at it despite being nervous, rusty and slightly out of place. She still did great and was commended on her ability to work quickly under pressure and multi task. Duh. Do you think she learned those skills from 10 years of sitting on a couch eating bonbons? Puh-lease. Is there no harder job than being a mom? Really now folks. Being a mom is the pinnacle of all the hardest jobs all put together!!

At the end of the show the mom is offered a full time position where she did her little week long stint and has just a few hours to make her decision about whether or not she will accept the job offer and if she does she starts in 2 days. Well, I have a bone to pick here too. Does anyone really give you a mere 3 hrs to make such a monumental decision. And where's the job interview part where the mom gets to ask the potential employer some pointed questions about pay, hours, benefits, sick leave rules etc... I would never accept a job offer from an employer without having seriously hashed out ALL those details IN WRITING. That's just plain old irresponsible to ask someone to answer that question so impetuously and with so little information about the nitty gritty of it all. That kind of decision will completely rock a family's world not to mention how to suddenly arrange for (GOOD and RELIABLE) childcare for your kids in a measly two days.... Come on people. Let's get back to the real world here! So, that part definitely upset me. It just wasn't fair to put so much pressure on making that decision so fast. And yet, still, despite my many many issues with the show, it's a subject matter that needs addressing, a subject matter that needs more attention. I think the whole stay at home, work from home, work outside the home issue is a fascinating one and more-so I think the LACK of choices and options out there for moms is APPALLING. I think it's reprehensible that most moms have only two choices, SAHM exclusively or work full time outside the home. And, realistically, most women have very little "choice" in the matter to begin with. When countries in Europe give women a full year of paid maternity leave and we give them 6 weeks of UNPAID leave, well, it just makes me want to puke. How dare we call ourselves a "developed" country?! Not so much...

So despite being so riled up, I'm a lame-o because I'm sure I'll be watching the next episode. Mostly because it helps remind me that within every SAHM out there resides some "secret" hidden talent and some real VALUE in this world outside of the tremendous value she has in the fact that she is raising kids in this crazy day and age. Clearly, there is no more important job out there. That is simply undeniable. But I also think it is hugely important that women tap into and put to good use their OTHER skills (and training or expertise) which combined with the skills they have acquired over the years of being SAHM' s (patience, multitasker extraordinaire, organizational genius, negotiating skills of a U.N. peacemaker...the list goes on and on!!!) well, that just proves what I have always known, that within all of us lies a SUPERHERO which, when given the chance to do so, and put to use ALL of our many multi faceted skills, we can truly live a rewarding, fulfilling and balanced life. Unfortunately, the opportunities are so few and far between and especially with how our society views long time SAHMs trying to re-enter the job market....Sigh. I do hope this show has one positive ripple effect which is to showcase what great talent resides in every SAHM.... And I suppose if the world isn't going to throw that opportunity in front of you (which it rarely does) then you should probably find a way to create it for yourself. Take a leap of faith IN yourself, FOR yourself. That, or apply to be on this show and show 'em what you are made of! Teehee:)


Ok, that was my rant. I'll be amazed if anyone reads through all of it, but I do this to help myself sleep at night, I have to let it all out and vent and process and so on!!! It's my therapy!

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