Dreams When I used to think about being a mother, I imagined a picture perfect life. I would think about all the wonderful things I would take the baby to do. I was never going to use a bottle and formula because breasts were meant to feed babies. We would take walks every night to the park and play. So many wonderful ideas and expectations I had entering motherhood. Fast forward to reality. I couldn’t breast feed because my son was born early and in NICU, he was being fed by a nurse with a bottle. I never got to take him on long walks in the evening to play because I worked nights trying to afford the formula he required and the diapers. I was stressed and tired. Being a mother was nothing that I imagined it to be. “In the Park” by Glenn Harwood is a perfect example of another mother’s perspective of expectations versus …show more content…
The television mothers always have their hair done, their make-up is perfect and they walk their children to school in Jimmy Choo’s. I wanted to be that mom. My reality is a mess bun, yoga pants and running after the bus with my kid in tow because I don’t have enough time to get him to school, get myself ready for work and drop his brothers off at daycare. Harwood describes her life in much of the same way when she says “Her clothes are out of date” (1). This is the life of so many mothers. I often find myself shopping for clothing for my children but neglecting myself. I don’t even own a pair of Jimmy Choo’s. Dreams usually are the rose- colored version of life. In my dreams I am a supermom, I work out 6 days a week and salad is my favorite food. I often dream about adventures and missed opportunities. In Harwood’s poem she sees a lover from her past, “Someone she loves passes by- too late to feign indifference to that casual nod” (Harwood 4-5). Harwood daydreams, longing for a life she does not lead (9-11). It is so easy to get swept up in dreams that reality soon becomes a harsh