"In the Motherhood" had no moms in sight

Things haven't been going so great the last week or so in the world of "my kid is a potty prodigy". In fact, things got so bad that I was glad if I caught babyjama in the act and could get her to the pot while she had a couple of trickles left to squeeze out...which is saying a lot since three weeks ago I was singing her praises for not having any accidents at all...basically ever. Well, I should say that these last few days have been full of non-potty pee incidents, rather than accidents...but I'll get into that later.

Yesterday was a freaking horrible hellatious day, that I never ever ever want to relive again ever. It was a day that tried my parenting soul to the core, but like I said I'll get to that later. Today was much better, but I was (if I'm being totally honest) looking forward to a night of good TV. Thursdays happen to be one of my favorite nights for TV, because A) there is a local restaurant review show on, and B) I'm a huge fan of "The Office". I was pretty excited that tonight was also the premier of what I thought was going to be a great new show. I had seen a bunch of previews for a "In the Motherhood", and thought it looked funny.

I thought maybe it would be a true slice of motherhood (since it supposedly is based on true mothering experience). I didn't see any of that. Sure the first scene was the single mother coming home to her house in shambles and the kids running amock and promptly walking back out the door without saying hello to any of them and going to have drinks at her sister's house. That's funny, sorta, I guess. I just don't see the slice of reality I'm hoping for. The truth is that moms really don't get to just decide not to go home. In fact, I know of some single working moms who fight really hard to get one evening once a month to themselves. Forget about just deciding not to come home in the evening.

Okay, so maybe I can get past the fact that nothing is realistic. It's a show, and nothing on TV is supposed to be realistic. Fine. But the humor? I think it was supposed to be funny because moms are supposed to relate. And there were definitely a few silly lines that got me to chuckle, like the one about missing being pregnant because it makes your legs look skinny. That was definitely funny. But the whole story line? The mom who needs to have sex because it's supposedly the third date? The "mom" from Will and Grace who pretends to be pregnant for the free loot? And the perfectionist mom who tells her kids that Santa isn't real in order to claim that she's completely honest with her kids? I just don't relate to these women.

I guess what I was hoping for was more of a Seinfeld type of Mom show. It doesn't really have to be about anything, because to me that's what makes motherhood so interesting and funny. The silly little things that happen every day. It's a mundane job, and to try and make it into a tight little story line like that is trite and well, dumb. I think they should have some of my favorite bloggers as writers for the show. I would so like to see this story reenacted on TV. Or watch this kind of single mom. Or see this happen in a day in the life of a stay at home TV mom (not all of our kids go to preschool while we run on the treadmill...with blonde hair bouncing)

Another bone that I have to pick, is that I feel like this show is using some stereotypes of moms that are just kind of annoying. There is the bitchy perfectionist mom. Her house is perfect, her hair is perfect, her kids are perfect, and her sex life is perfect. The scattered single mom. She brings her personal life to work, her house is a mess...her life is chaos. The dettached mom. She isn't into her kid, because she's gotten older and wants to focus on herself. Anyway, I guess I was looking for more well rounded characters, people I could relate to or something.

I might give the show a second chance (only because the commercials for the show really were that good), but my hopes are not high.

Okay, so I really will fill you in on how my child is way too smart, and she has learned to use urine as a weapon, but I think I have to save it for another post. I'm beat...and I should be. Seeing as how this pregnant body-o-mine is already past its automatic shut-off time for the evening.