Supermum?

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The top women's tennis player Kim Clijsters is currently in Australia for the Australian Open.  She is also mother to a 2yo little girl.  I've heard so many comments on TV about her being a supermum that this week's article in the Sydney Morning Herald was a breath of fresh air.

http://www.smh.com.au/sport/tennis/clijsterss-secret-to-super-success-an-eightfigure-bank-account-for-starters-20100120-mlrb.html

Finally an acknowledgment by the media that she is a mum who gets A LOT of help (full-time nanny) and has A LOT of money to enable her to pursue her career.  I still do think she is amazing to be as fit and committed as she is, and there must be times when she finds it hard to put so much into her tennis.

But it is nice that there is a realisation that the ordinary mums do an amazing job too.  In fact ordinary mums do a lot of ordinary things each day that aren't immediately satisfying or have a lot of people cheering for them.

So I'm cheering for myself (and all on Team Mum).  Might celebrate with a cup of tea!

Comments

Graham & Heather said…
Hope you enjoyed the cup of tea
January 23, 2010 at 8:36 PM
Gina said…
Grrr, well you are more polite about the bandying-around of the term 'supermum' than I am! The title is frequently bestowed on any woman who has given birth then returned to a professional sport quickly. Which admittedly is very impressive, physically, and many of these ladies are super SPORTSwomen, but those that have kids in full-time care to achieve it - how are they doing much mothering at all? Let alone getting the tag 'supermum'. I'm all for acknowledging the talent and hard work that goes into such sporting prowess, but I think the super mums are the ones who do the parenting bit themselves!
January 24, 2010 at 5:47 PM
Jenny said…
I agree Gina - I was trying to be diplomatic! And you're right - she's really good at playing tennis. But realistically she can't truly understand the unrelenting nature of mothering day in/day out. And it is unrelenting when you do it all yourself.
January 24, 2010 at 8:11 PM
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