Mothers Don't Have To Be 'Supermoms' To Be Celebrated

Being a supermom is considered a top-tier compliment. Yet it comes with a great cost. Mothers are often burdened with the responsibility of doing everything perfectly. What we do not realise is that mothers do so much labour that remains unrecognised. The word supermom is a romanticised version of the difficult and thankless role that women take on as mothers.

Being a supermom is not a celebration of motherhood anymore. Most mothers have become frustrated and miserable trying to catch up with the expectations of being perfect at ALL times. They have to take care of the kids, husbands, in-laws, households and whatnot. Being a woman isn't easy in the first place given all the societal conditions and gender roles which need to adhere and being a mother, on the top of it, brings even more responsibilities to look after as a woman.

Being a mother can be blissful but that does not mean you put them on a pedestal as if they are magical creatures. Because they are not. Mothers are not goddesses but are merely thriving human beings. According to a report by NDTV, two of ten mothers in India are prone to post-partum depression after childbirth. While the causes of post-partum depression can vary widely, one of the major causes in India amounts to the country's socio-cultural nature. In India, mothers have a number of roles to cater to in order to be socially accepted.

Being a supermom can also mean that a mother has to give whatever energy and efforts she has to cater to the needs of her family which many times includes giving up her career and dreams. It is not dramatic when it is said that a mother has to sacrifice for the sake of her family, because the saying holds true in practice.

When it comes to nurturing a family, a mother is expected to keep everything aside and make her husband and kids happy at the cost of her own happiness. Being a supermom not only gives a mother the recognition of a multi-tasking being but also reveals what it truly means to be a mother in the patriarchal society of ours.

Being a supermom means having to pump in restaurant and airport washrooms to feed the child. It means that a mother needs to get back to work before their minds, or bodies or even their babies are ready so that they don't lose their jobs. Being supermom means waking up at 5:30 AM before anyone is up to prepare meals, work on presentations, get the kids ready and look presentable for a day full of work only to go to bed after everyone is asleep.

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Being a mother is much harder than you think because the effort and love they put in to nurture a family remains unrecognised. Mothers don't need to be supermoms to be celebrated neither do they need a single day to acknowledge their efforts. Motherhood needs to be celebrated everyday as an appreciation towards everything mothers do for their children and the personal loss they go through to be able to care for others.

Views expressed by the author are their own.