This year I found myself accepting a “Mothers’ Day” massage invitation from the local urban health retreat, and a rose from my gym instructor. The pink thornless stem was thrust into my hand as I was leaving the gym, sweaty and tired. “Happy Mothers’ Day” he said with more than enough cheer for both of us, dutifully wiping his offering with hand sanitiser. Walking home with the ill-gotten gift that was too long to fit easily into my tote bag, I started to feel that my hasty reply “Oh, I’m not a mother” might have been a little too self-effacing. He had insisted I take it anyway.
While Mothers Day has come to be a time of commercialism whereby we bestow gifts and praise upon women who have borne children, Mothering Sunday was apparently an early Christian tradition where workers returned home to their “Mother” church, meaning the village and church of their childhood. We talk about our mother tongue to mean the language of our childhood, and the mother country to talk about one’s native country. So, it seems mothering can have a broader meaning. But there’s a reason the word Mother is used figuratively in this sense. Mothers have traditionally been so integral to those early memories.
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"Do you have children?" she asks as our gaze is drawn to the rainbow unicorn birthday cake. Standing amongst the group of mothers, who I haven't actually been introduced to by the harried host, I keep my response brief. "No". We stand there in awkward silence for several more moments. At another child's party I am introduced as "the other person without children", as if that in itself ought to be a conversation prompt, like "you both play tennis". These days I carefully manage how and when I attend children’s birthday parties.
In another scenario, I was sharing a drink with a friend, a woman who I admire greatly. She's incredibly funny, compassionate and creative, has a heart for justice, and is nobody’s fool. Yet, it was only after the second glass on an occasion several years into our friendship, that she gave any indication of how the grief of childlessness had affected her. It occurred to me that while a miscarriage brings unimaginable grief, at least it's a grief that has a moment and a form. It’s a known quantity. People send flowers. Grief of childlessness is less tangible, and the way childlessness is understood has less “form” as well, as another blogger reflects.
A few years ago, during a weekend away with several amazing childless and childfree women, a friend recommended a book called “The life unexpected: 12 weeks to your Plan B for a meaningful and fulfilling future without children”. The author, Jody Day, weaves her own journey of coming to terms with childlessness into a book which explores the experiences of countless others. She offers examples of role models; childless women who have lived well and made significant achievements in their lives. It occurred to me reading this book that I wasn’t alone or unusual in my sadness, nor would I always feel this way. And the negative labels of childless and non-mother now have permission to evolve into positive, life giving descriptions. Now, a couple of years later, I can speak more openly about the subject, which back then was just too painful.
Women with children regularly remind me of my good fortune. “Oh, I’d give anything to have a night at home alone on the couch watching tv” they gush at me, or “I wish I had the time to paint my nails”, or "you're probably busy partying". While my day to day life doesn’t look quite like how they imagine it to be, I have come to see the advantages of the dependant-free lifestyle I find myself in. I actually love being the fun aunt, having time to create a deep connection with nieces and nephews both biological and chosen, and the space to think deliberately about how I want to set boundaries with these small people, show love and model living with courage, vulnerability and integrity. I enjoy being involved in voluntary activities, and cherish the way I can spend a Saturday morning sitting in a cafe writing if I wish, or enjoy live music of an evening.
I also wonder whether hiding behind the comments about toenails and couches is perhaps a voice that is as silenced and frustrated as mine. Mothers who want to talk about regrets or loneliness or a yearning to live out broader dreams than motherhood might be worried about being judged as ungrateful or “bad mothers”. Where is the space to talk of such things? Is there a way that we can be present for one another in our regrets, and yearnings, and moments of joy, without it being a competition as to who is most hard done by or most successful?
There’s also a cynical part of me that sees Mothers Day accolades as tokenistic. Our society idolises mothers, but does it really respect them? When people wax lyrical about how much they appreciate everything that their mothers and wives do, I can’t help but think “why don’t you just do your share of the work, mate?” Our national household survey indicates that even when incomes and paid workloads are even, women in coupled households with dependent children (as in Mothers) do 23 hours of housework compared to men, who do 16 hours. And that's a significant improvement since the early 2000s.
So, yes, it is important to acknowledge mothers and motherhood. And I am ever grateful for the ways my mother’s care has shaped the trajectory of my life, and what she gave up to be my mother. And there is room, I hope, to acknowledge broader notions of mothering such as nurture of communities, and the birthing of new ideas. My adopted aunt, who has several more decades of navigating the childless scene under her belt than me, reflected today that Mothers Day doesn’t have to be a time of exclusion or loneliness for those who are not Mothers. The intent is evolving, she believes, to include recognition of those who nurture others in a multitude of ways, and those who would have liked to have been Mothers but couldn’t or didn’t. When I skyped with family on Mothers’ Day a couple of years ago my nephew wanted to wish me a Happy Mothers Day as well, but then remembered that I’m not a mother. After a short and slightly awkward pause while he contemplated this dilemma, he announced that there should be a “Ladies Day”. Cute. And luckily there is an Auntie's day in July, so he can make me a card then. But until July rolls around, I’ll unapologetically take the rose and the massage, thanks very much.
