Yesterday, April 23 was the annual “Take Your Kids to Work Day” in the US. Even the White House allowed such an event, despite the security hassles involved, and the young guests were hosted by the First Lady Michelle Obama herself (read transcript here). And the First Lady had to answer all sorts of questions, from her dog, to her kids and her garden. There were questions about her job as First Lady, cooking (does she do it – No), possible natural disasters (”bad things happening to a country”), even about her sleeping arrangements! What the First Lady emphasized is that her job in the White House as the First Lady, mom, dog walker and gardener is fun! And her take home message is “do your best” because their parents, who are “public servants” are doing their best for the community and the country.

I find this practice really nice and this year, my kids will probably be old enough to take part in this event – whenever that will be here in Switzerland. But I know for sure his company is supporting such an initiative. The point is, almost every country seems to observe such a day. And the companies who support this event are really to be commended. Because although their employees might probably be less productive on this day, it is actually an investment for the productivity of the future generation.

It makes me sad that I never had the chance to show my kids my working place when I was still employed. And now, as a work-at-home mom, they see everyday where mom works anyway. It’s the family office, guest room and TV room rolled into one. No matter, I always try to emphasize to my kids that mommy is working even though she doesn’t go to the office everyday. That any type of work, be it performing menial jobs, house work, or professional work, has its merit and has to be appreciated.

I was chatting with a grandmother who had five children. I asked her how she managed with five, and she said that it was easy raising them. “What’s your secret?” I asked. “Oh, I sent them all outside to play during the day, then they came home for their dinner.”

And if you talk to your grandmother, or great-grandmother, it’s likely she did something very similar with her kids. That was just what you did back then.

Can you imagine a modern mom doing that? Haven’t times changed? And Grandmothers don’t think it’s changed for the better.

Grandmothers are watching in horror as their children turn into over-ambitious, competitive parents with pampered, demanding offspring, according to a new report into how women’s experience of motherhood has changed over the generations.

Grandmothers are worried about their daughters trying to balance motherhood and work and their own lives, the pressure on their grandchildren to attend music classes and gym classes and yoga for babies, prepare a gourmet menu of homemade baby food every day, do exactly the right amount of tummy-time and encourage their babies to meet all their milestones on time – no, make that just a bit earlier than the other babies in their playgroup.

Professor Rachel Thomson, co-director of The Making Of Modern Motherhood report, a study of moms, grandmothers and great-grandmothers, found that

Grandmothers believed the range of choices available to their daughters not only turned mothering into a competition, but also undermined their daughters’ confidence in their ability to care for their children. ‘The gains offered by this story of progress were dwarfed by the losses in the grandmothers’ eyes,’ she said, ‘including the creation of demanding babies.’

Pick up any baby magazine and it’s full of the latest gadgets and gizmos that claim they will help your baby learn music, spelling, and make baby smarter and generally better.

And then there’s all the safety research. Bis-phenols in plastic? I have the BPA-free bottles for my baby, says one mom. Well, I use the glass bottles, say another. I have aluminum chemical free non-leaching bottles! says the third.

Local parenting magazines have adverts for all kinds of baby classes for even the youngest babies. When my son was a couple of months old, I called up about one class. The teacher told me that they “have a wonderful learning environment to teach the babies to roll over”.

What, we need classes to teach our babies how to roll over? (My son did manage to learn perfectly well without the class.) There seems to be a new product or service every day to teach your baby to do something that their mom, or older brothers and sisters would have traditionally taught them.

I think I like being a mom in 2008. I like all the options of classes, products and entertainment available to me and my son, I try not to fret when I see a younger child do something my son can’t do yet, and I think I’m well-educated enough about safety issues to make informed choices about how to parent my son. Even though it does make me worry when there’s a new recall or a new danger seemingly every day.

Would you rather have been a mother in simpler times, a generation or two ago?
Or it is better for moms and babies in today’s world with all the new benefits, but all the new stresses?