Rage Against the Machine

We all know about how blogging has democratized publishing. Now anyone can be a published writer, and anyone can provide feedback on other blogs in a variety of ways, by commenting, by writing about them on your own blog, or by nominating them for democratic blogging awards. (While I'm on the subject of feedback, thank you to those people who had such nice things to say about my grandma's post. Your comments seriously made me cry. It was just so nice to discover that I was at least somewhat successful in my effort to "write her to life," as Mad Hatter put it.)

Discovering blogs has made me realize just how many great writers are out there who haven't been discovered by book publishers. I love that we can read these great writers now, thanks to blogging technology. It's also been nice to discover awards that any blogger can nominate any other blogger for. Talk about democracy.

So, at the risk of appearing presumptuous, because I'm such a newbie, I have to make a nomination for the Perfect Post award. I'm nominating a blogger who already has a handful of perfect post awards, but I think she deserves one more. Why? Because she spoke the unspeakable, as Ariel Gore says in The Mother Trip, or, er in this case wrote the unwritable. And I think it's really important that we mothers illuminate and share the dark side of mothering. So we aren't so alone in our failures, and can even realize that feeling overwhelmed and angry isn't so much a failure as a rite of passage for all mothers. And isn't that what this whole blogging thing, in large part, is all about?

So... I nominate Bubandpie's rage post. Not only did she speak the unspeakable, but she did it beautifully and eloquently, and inspired others to share our own unspeakable experiences. Like a (poetic) metereologist describing the conditions that cause tornadoes, Bubandpie wrote about the little things that pile up, both literally and figuratively, and join forces with our sleep deprivation to overwhelm us.

Not long after she posted, I went to a parenting workshop at the local Early Years Centre. There were probably 4 or 5 mothers and one father, who mentioned early on that he didn't live with his son full time, or with his son's mother at all. At one point, the facilitator, a mother herself, starting talking about how to deal with anger around your kids. She advised putting your child down in a safe place like their crib or playpen, and walking away to do whatever you need to do. It could be screaming into a pillow in your bathroom, taking deep breaths, or doing the hokey pokey. Whatever works. And the father piped up and said, "Yeah but it should never get to that point." My first thought was, "Yep. You can tell he doesn't live with the child 24/7." And I was very disappointed that the facilitator didn't set him straight. She just backed down and said, "Well yes you're right." I know it was her own maternal guilt speaking, or rather not speaking (the guilt we all feel), but I think it's important to let the cat out of the bag that while it's not desirable, all mothers feel the rage from time to time. So thank you Bubandpie for another perfect post.

For more perfect posts, check out Suburban Turmoil and Petroville.