Soccer Moms

by The Flamingo

I have been a mother for 5 years now. It’s not an easy job, but it’s fulfilling and I love it. There’s nothing I wouldn’t do for my son. I thought of myself as an awesome mom…until I met the “soccer moms” that is. The temple I raised to myself just crumbled down, as an 8 magnitude earthquake shattered my self confidence to bits.

Who are these “soccer moms”? For those of you who don’t know the term, they are really dragons disguised as super polished, elegant women with hair that looks like they spent three hours in a saloon. Kidding…not dragons, that’s an exaggeration, maybe manticores. That’s also not accurate, that’s just my envy talking.

Actually, the term “soccer mom” originates from North America and describes middle class women who are kind of supermoms. They’re focused 100% of the time on their children, they were born and bred for this purpose and they thrive on it until the day they die. What do these special mothers do exactly better than the rest of us? Well, everything. The downside is they take everything too seriously and personal, in my opinion:

• They make amazing sweets, from cakes and cupcakes to homemade ice cream; also their mantra is “you don’t care enough about your child if you buy cupcakes from a bakery, even if it’s the best in town, you have to make them yourself in order to show your love”.
• They drive their kids everywhere and have an activity with them every single day, they push them a lot, the more the kid does and knows, the brighter the mom shines through them.
• Their life is a continuous competition with other moms, who’s kid is better, more focused, more skilled etc.
• They have “mom meetings” regularly and they organize themselves in “committees”, where the only topic allowed is “children”. 
• They get involved in school life, organize events there, provide food and activities for them. If you can’t do an event for whatever reason…then take cover, ‘cause an angry flock of moms is coming to get you.
• They hand craft every costume for their child, for different celebrations at school. They are as gifted as real seamstresses, but they also expect that everyone else should also be bestowed with the same kind of gift. Yes, all the costumes must look exactly the same, or you haven’t tried hard enough. Buying it? Not an option, of course. 

The soccer moms are really awesome actually, if they weren’t such predators and if they took everything down a notch. Everything they do, they do it with a smile on their face, that makes them so much scarier, as if they don’t ever (seem to) know the meaning of a bad day.

So the term “soccer mom” is nowadays used in the pejorative sense. Why? Because there’s nothing wrong with all the other moms who try hard for their child but don’t achieve perfection in their diligence. There is nothing wrong if you can’t bake or just dislike it. There is nothing wrong if you have to work and your child doesn’t get your undivided attention all the time. There is nothing wrong if your lunch boxes are less amazing than those of other moms. There is nothing wrong if your child doesn’t have an extracurricular activity every single day and if you sometimes lazy around with them. There is nothing wrong if you can sew a button and not a whole haute couture outfit. Be there for your kids when they need it, that’s the most important thing. You don’t love them less just because you are not Wonder Woman.

Each mother has her own motivation, her own cultural background and education, her own problems either big or small at home. So, the way I like to express it, to each her own. If the child is happy and thriving, then we have achieved our goal. 

Photos from Flamingo‘s archive.