I’ve never been a super type A person. I never had a plan or a plan for a specific part of my life – I just always had a general idea of what I wanted and my goals and I just figured that eventually I would find my way. In 1987 baby boomDiane Keaton yes Type A people plan their lives with zero room for error…until a baby appears in her life. This classic film is filled with funny real-life moments and lots of late ’80s nostalgia, but its commentary on how society treats working mothers—and ambitious mothers in general—remains relevant. I loved this movie so much as a kid, and I think when I rewatched it as a mom, that’s what I saw: how little progress we’ve made since 1987 in the way we treat our mothers .
But surprisingly, the thing I realized the most when I rewatched it baby boom As a mother, Keaton’s character J.C. Wiatt can literally have it all. Then all our mothers able Have it all – when we change “everything” about us.
If you haven’t watched it in a while baby boomhere’s a quick little review. Keaton plays JC Wiatt, a super-successful management consultant in Manhattan who unexpectedly inherits her cousin’s 14-month-old child after his death. She was fully prepared to put baby Elizabeth up for adoption, but decided to keep her, thus unraveling her entire life. JC loses a big promotion at work and has a few minor meltdowns before finding success in a homemade baby food company and raising Elizabeth. It’s a romantic comedy – she quits her high-powered job, moves to a small town, and ends up with a vet – but it’s a sweet moment as a mother, when JC realizes that maybe she does have it all , it was on her arms that had the biggest impact on me.
Of course, the important part of the story is supposed to be that she didn’t get the promotion because she was too focused on Elizabeth. And, she was so humiliated by it that she refused to take on smaller clients and quit altogether. We want to see how this baby changes her life, and the movie ends with her in a better, happier place than she’s ever been.
As simple as it sounds, that’s what’s stuck with me since I rewatched it baby boom. Motherhood changes people; we know it. Yet while many may believe that motherhood makes work harder, or success harder, or love harder to persist, baby boom In defense of motherhood, just do it all different. It doesn’t make our lives worse or more difficult – it means we have to change the way we think, rethink our priorities, and realize that as mothers we can have it all. Each of us must individually figure out our all method.
For JC, that means doing the job she loves—country babe—while spending time with Elizabeth. That doesn’t mean she can’t have it all, because she can’t be the mom Elizabeth wants to be and the New York boss she wants to be. She has it all because she’s happy, even if it’s a complete departure from her original plan.
baby boom It is not meant to be a blueprint for all moms. Starting your own business is hard, finding love is hard, and restoring an old house is stressful. but baby boom A reminder to all of us that our journey as mothers is not dependent on anyone else. We have to decide if we can have it all. We get to decide what we want our lives to look like. When the road deviates sharply from the map in our hands, we need to decide which way to go.
baby boom Understood. Now, as a mother of three, I do the same.
