The Mama Bee on That Children's Book That Everyone is Blogging About

I've been following the buzz about that children's book that everyone's been blogging about over the past month. I haven't been inspired to blog about it myself (there are so many other things to blog, write, and think about), but I did want to pass along what I think is a particularly insightful comment from The Mama Bee. She writes:

"So many other things make me very angry.  That spending time with my children is sometime compromised by my worries over work.  That my husband and I both work long hours and spend less time with each other than we would like.  That countless securities – healthcare, life insurance, retirement pay – are bound up with my job, making me feel inexplicably trapped, even though I like my job and don’t plan to leave anytime soon.  But not putting my kids to bed at night.

So I’m trying to figure out why this book has struck such a chord.  And I think – if indeed it is parents who are relating to this content – that it’s not about putting your kids to bed per se.  It’s about the minute amount of time at the end of the day that husbands and wives have together.  It’s not really the kids who are squeezing this.  It’s the number of hours we spend at work.  But a book titled ‘Put the F**king Computer Down’ probably wouldn’t have done as well."

So, yes, this book has tapped into a mother- and father-lode of anger. But, as The Mama Bee suggests, it doesn't make sense to direct that anger at our kids.

Let's be honest and acknowledge where that anger should be directed: at a society that pretends to value families, but that tolerates work-family policy that make it much more difficult than it needs to be for parents to be parents and to pay the bills.

Link via Work Life Flexibility 2010.