A First Satire Saturday

Because for obvious reasons wiki is everything:

"Satire is a genre of literature, and sometimes graphic and performing arts, in which vices, follies, abuses and shortcomings are held up to ridicule, ideally with the intent of shaming individuals, corporations, government or society itself, into improvement. Although satire is usually meant to be humorous, its greater purpose is often constructive social criticism, using wit to draw attention to both particular and wider issues in society."

So what is today's self-analyzing satirical remark?

Society today puts all too much pressure on perfection. I'm not sure when, somewhere in the new millennium motherhood changed. Life became more about how things looked than what we did with our lives. I am 100% a different parent than my mother was because I live in a completely different world. I am constantly bombarded by Facebook updates, Pinterest homes, confusing Organic food mothers shaming me for my choice of bread, flip-flopping medical opinions, snooty fabric lovers, anti-big-business sentiments, political pushers and name brand flaunters. What happened to the days where good-enough was healthy and convenience meant more time living rather than "giving up." I realize that every single one of these topics could be a post on its own and maybe I will look here next Saturday for my weekly inspiration.

For today however, I'm throwing up my hands and giving up on perfection. Giving up on being the perfect mother, with the perfect children, in the perfect house, doing perfect summer projects and I'm going to nap on the couch while the kids try desperately to get my attention. I'm going to ignore the 52 projects in our house currently in process. Ignore the dishes in the sink, laundry scattered about, hair that could use a brush, and all the people currently requesting my presence in some form today.

We'll go to Pizza Hut for dinner (it is however my daughter's third birthday), I'll skip the cake baking, order dessert, sleep in our unmade beds and somehow still manage to be just fine. There was a day when none of that mattered anyway. No one saw your hair on Saturday, your house was safe from social media, bedrooms were private, bathing suits were only worn on the beach, dessert was expected when company came over (not frowned upon) and organic wasn't part of an everyday shopping trip.

My childhood was spent outdoors, with the neighbor kids, with no toys except a ball and bike, a bunch of rocks, a tire swing and dirt... lots and lots of dirt. I miss those days. At least we are trying to teach our children the right things. As Baileywick from Disney's Sofia the First teaches Amber:

"You may find that when you try to make things perfect, all you do is make everyone around you perfectly miserable."

Maybe however, we should practice what we preach!