The Joy of Motherhood: Reality or Myth?

May 16, 2007 — -- Is it a social taboo to say that raising children bores you? Do you secretly hate having to read the same bedtime stories to your children over and over again? What about having to go to their music recital, all three nights?

For most moms, it is considered inappropriate to express boredom with these natural motherly duties, but freelance journalist Helen Kirwin-Taylor is one mom who isn't afraid to break those taboos.

Kirwin-Taylor, a mother of two young boys, says that "day after day after day, I think it gets very boring." She was so disturbed by the unwritten rule against saying anything negative about child-rearing that she wrote an article for London's Daily Mail entitled "Sorry, But My Children Bore Me to Death." Now a stay-at-home mom, Kirwin-Taylor admitted that she was bored stiff when taking her kids to birthday parties, to play dates and to school plays, and her article caused shock waves on both sides of the Atlantic.

"Good Morning America Radio's" Hilarie Barsky brought up this hot topic last week on her morning show. One woman who called into the show said, "I just have a real problem with someone who is so selfish in the idea of, you know, that's what motherhood is."

And it wasn't just on the radio show where reactions to Kirwin-Taylor's article ran the gamut of extreme emotions. One person wrote on an Internet blog in response to the article, saying, "do the world a favor and don't reproduce." Another post read, "Your lack of parental love borders on child abuse."

Kirwin-Taylor is quick to respond to these negative comments. "I think a lot of women read it as I was interfering and that their lives are meaningless," she said. Kirwin-Taylor adds that she sees more mothers like herself losing the freedom to express themselves in a more child-centered world. "You know, ten years before I started having children, there was no more cult of the child. Much, much more is expected."