***This was originally written as a Guest Blog post for Momstown.ca.***
Did you see this photo floating around the internet a couple of months ago?
People seemingly went crazy when Gisele Bundchen (who’s Gisele, you say? Oh, um, she’s the highest-paid supermodel in the world) posted this photo of her feeding her one-year-old daughter while getting ready for a photo shoot. She hashtagged it #multi-tasking, which to me, sums up motherhood perfectly.
But Social Media went crazy. I mean crazy crazy. And the sad part is, it was mostly the women. Mostly the mothers. It was the mothers who skipped past the critics that attacked her for tweeting a breastfeeding photo in the first place. It was the mothers who skipped past the critics that attacked her for nursing a one-year-old. It was the mothers who skipped right to the heart of the matter. It was the mothers who said “she’s not really multi-tasking. How hard is it to have someone do your hair and your nails while you feed your child?” Huh?
You see this beautiful photo of a mother nursing her baby and you choose to argue over semantics? The thing is, hair and nails are a part of her job. Just like phonecalls and meetings or customers and a cash register are a part of your job. Would you have criticized her if she was sitting behind a desk #multi-tasking? Or inside a cubicle? Or in her home office? I doubt it. The green of envy is not a flattering hue.
I see this picture and I see a beautiful example of motherhood. I see a toddler bonding with her mama. I see a chance to further breast-feeding activism. I see glitz and glamour and probably a little tongue-in-cheek. But mostly, I see a mom doing the best she can, #multi-tasking, within her set of circumstances.
I’m off to do the best I can, within mine.
Oh, Gisele.
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