Final Class SMORE
Jade Roberts
Novel
When reading my novel “The Good Mother” I learned that motherhood isn’t always easy. Life does not always happen the way that you want it to and there are always things that are unexpected. You can do your best to do what is right for your child, but it is inevitable that you will mess up. It’s important that you can accept your mistakes and move on with raising your child the best way that you know how. Children love their parents no matter what they have done, it’s the same unconditional love returned. I really enjoyed reading the novel and movie that went along with it.
The Parent Trap
The Parent Trap was an important film that depicted mothers in many lights. It was an interesting film to choose because there are so many motherly figures. You get to see the birth mother, the father who acts as a mother, the butler and child relationship, and even a wicked stepmother relationship. The movie is entertaining and one of my all time favorite movies while showing motherhood in many different lights. It shows that all mothers conventional or non conventional have a lasting impact on the child’s life. While the movie is a stretch and it is hard to believe that parents would split up their twins, it proposes and showcases a unique set of circumstances for motherhood.
Grey's Anatomy: Mom's In Television
Moms in television was probably the most interesting to me because I love to watch sitcoms, but had never really paid much attention to the motherly figures before this project. The most interesting to me was Meredith Grey since I have been in love with Grey’s Anatomy ever since the show began airing. It shows how a mother’s childhood can potentially leave scars. It portrays a mother being scared because she doesn’t want to make some of the same mistakes that her own mother made. It shows how motherhood builds upon life experiences and relationships that you have with your own mother and I found that both extremely relevant and interesting.
Mother's In The News
Mother’s in the news was probably the saddest of all of the topics for me. There were so many stories of mother’s in negative light. There were crazy women who were causing intentional harm to their children in cities all around us. There were women who were ostracized for their beliefs or parenting styles, and there were countless battles over the upcoming battle of maternity leave options. It made me want to choose a place to work that has awesome benefits for expecting mothers so I don’t have to go through and fight the battles that some other women are currently being forced to fight.
http://abc7chicago.com/news/prosecutors-mom-beat-toddler-to-death-for-not-eating-noodles/1107296/
http://www.today.com/kindness/simple-way-one-american-mom-helped-thousands-refugee-children-t55701
Advertising
Advertising towards mothers was interesting. It showed my classmates and me how advertising that is geared to mom’s is not all that realistic. Mother’s do not do all of the ridiculous things that ads portray them doing. The most interesting thing that I found out doing the advertising survey of my own was that technology has had such a lasting impact on motherhood. It made me realize how much it has helped and how much it has created an essence of convenience for mothers. Also, in doing my short survey I learned that most mothers’ who have technology available to them use it frequently and most likely for a sick or ill child for home remedy’s.
1985- Cosmopolitan
Magazines were also interesting when examining motherhood. My partner and I did 1985 Cosmo magazines and the stories and ads that were in them were hilarious. All of the ads were about colorful makeup and big hair products. The ads were about how to tease your hair or how to pick the right blue eye shadow. The 80’s had a large focus on fashion and sexual relationships were made to be ok and were very much in the public spotlight in Cosmopolitan. It was funny because it makes you wonder how you’re going to look back at the different styles of your decade someday.
The Feminine Mystique
The Feminine Mystique was an interesting portrait of what women have went through to get us all to where we are today. I enjoyed starting the semester off with the novel because it gave us all background knowledge on women that we desperately needed. We all know of women’s rights and how they came about, but to hear about what all a woman went through in those times was rough for me. They couldn’t own property, they were expected to be married by a certain age, and they had to have certain jobs and were not expected to further their education. It makes me really grateful to live in the time period that I do and that we had women that were willing to stand up and say no and fight for our rights.
Book Review: http://www.nytimes.com/1963/04/07/books/friedan-feminine.html?_r=0
Walt Disney
Learning about Disney Film’s was my all time favorite thing that we did in this class. I love Disney movies and I still re watch some of my favorites every now and then. It was interesting to me that I never picked up on the fact that there were no mother’s in most of his most popular works. I enjoyed learning the history behind it and learning that once again things you go through in life and in your childhood can affect the outlook that you have as a person on parenting. It must have been so hard to feel responsible for the death of his parents and it makes sense why those past imprints have a lasting effect on his work.
Article: http://www.glamour.com/entertainment/blogs/obsessed/2014/09/disney-secrets-beauty-and-the-beast
Survey's
The class survey’s offered real and reliable feedback from mother’s that we all know in our personal lives. It offered us a chance to get our questions answered from the people that know best, moms. It was a fun thing to get to read and see the correlation from all of our results. The most interesting to me was seeing that most mothers would stay home with their children if they could. I thought that was interesting to see in our society where it is hoped that you will be able to do all things, work, be a good wife, and an even better mother. The surveys were able to offer us valuable and real insight into the lives of current mom’s.
Mom's In Music
The mother’s in music was something that was very special to me because we were able to make it personal. I was able to choose the song “Mom” by one of my all time favorite artists Garth Brooks. The words in that song leave you absolutely speechless and the meaning behind is beautiful. It was fun to look through all of the old photo albums with my mom and pick out some of our favorite photos of me growing up. It was a special moment when I got to show it to her and it is something that she will keep and treasure forever. I really enjoyed this project in the class because it allowed my mom and I another special memory together.
My Project Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rFmpUuLoiek
Children and Teen's
Letter to THE BEST MOM EVER!
Dear Mom,
After taking my motherhood class this semester I just want to say thank you! Thank you for everything you have ever done for me in my life that I haven’t been grateful enough for along the way. I never realized how hard it must be to juggle a career, baby, and be a wife all at the same time, but I think I understand it a little better now. You and I have a special relationship that no one else understands. You are absolutely without a doubt my best friend and I would never change that. I thank God every single day for allowing me to be your daughter.
Thank you for always believing in me, sitting through every volleyball game and dance competition. Thank you for always being my number one cheerleader and always being in my corner. Thank you for going to school and getting a wonderful education so you could be the perfect example of how it is completely possible to be a working mother and have an excellent relationship with your child too. Looking back on my childhood there is nothing I would hope to change, my life has and will continue to be truly blessed by you. My hope is that when I am a mother someday my children will think and say the same things about me. I hope I can be their best friend and be someone that they are proud of the same way that I am proud of you every single day. Thank you for always being my mother through the good times and bad, I could never thank you enough or tell you how much you truly mean to me.
I Love You,
Jade