Thoughts for a Tuesday Morning

A college classmate of mine is remembering her mom today as it is the 18th anniversary of her death. Her remembrance was a simple enjoyment of quiet and coffee, taking a moment for herself now that she is a mother. It made me think about things my mother did that I now do and treasure. I live a very different life than my mother, yet at the same time I am living a very similar one.
My differences:
1. I work a full time job that takes me outside the home on a daily basis.
2. I am/was the bread winner for the first five years of my child's life.
3. I only have one child by the age of 35 vs. her three children by the age 35
4. As a Mother I have lived now in three different houses, moved across the country twice, and in general tried to make a home more than once.
5. I became a mother for the first time without my mother around.
6. I buy my bread and ground beef.

My similarities:
1. I have my masters degree that I pursued and finished on my own.
2. I love to sew and make things for Wylie, especially Halloween costumes.
3. I like to cook and try new recipes.
4. I totally appreciate a cold glass of water that can be drunk straight from the tap on a really hot day.
5. I will drive any distance to visit a friend in need or talk to a friend or visit a random historical site. (full admission as a child this sometimes totally drove me up the wall) I get it now.
6. I am fully involved in whatever sport or school activity Wylie is involved in at the time.

I think the interesting thing is that as a woman I feel I'm putting the pressure on myself to fit the expectations of being some type of perfect mother. It isn't someone else putting those on me and I honestly get fed up with the mothers that are overly questioning about who is and is not doing it right. I think we all have to make choices and are trying our best with the resources we have at hand. Some of us were really lucky to have great teachers at home and some of us weren't so lucky, but that doesn't mean all of us became perfect or horrible mothers. We became who we are.

In closing because these are just thoughts, I have to say when I admitted the following statement to someone who considered herself a "fantastic" and "approachable" mother, I was shocked at her reaction. My statement in response to the question "If you could be anyone who would you be?" I responded with the answer I have always had hiding but is not so hidden anymore..."A 1950s housewife" She acted like I said I wanted to be a slave. These women were active mothers involved, working, frugal, and educated. How could I ask for less...