I eagerly tuned in to see the first episode Keep Calm And Carry On on TV One last night (8pm). As the mother of a little girl who’s just turned one, I guess I’m the ideal target audience, however, as I knew I was highly likely to watch it, nod in agreement a lot, and generally say things to my husband like, “Yes! She’s so right – those first weeks were killer!”
And yes, I was right. Keep Calm And Carry On was pretty much what I expected: An account of what it’s like to go from having a life where you can be as selfish as you like, to suddenly having a tiny little baby who depends on you completely…mixed in with a bit of Jaquie Brown humour for good measure.
I enjoyed it. Jaquie’s home diaries in the early days were something I could particularly identify with: The glazed, tired eyes and general fogginess, when you’re wondering what on earth you’ve got yourself in to, along with the amazement that you were allowed to take this helpless little creature home, despite having no experience whatsover! It’s a complete shock to the system, so it was nice (actually I don’t know that nice is the right word…perhaps comforting might be more appropriate) to see that celebrities like Jaquie Brown are no different in their experiences. She was also very brave to show the country her post-baby stomach – that’s not something most mothers would be wiling to show even their closest friends!
The little flashbacks in time, to see what motherhood was like back in the 1960s, were really interesting. My, how times of changed. The rigid four-hour – and not a moment sooner - feeding schedule must have been so difficult for new mothers back then to deal with. It’s very distressing to hear your baby crying, particularly in the first few weeks, so I don’t know how they were able to leave them crying away until the four hours was up and it was time for the next feed! Thank goodness Plunket isn’t quite so set in their ways these days, and recognise (for the most part, anyway) that every baby is different and has different needs.
It was also good that Jaquie stressed early on that she wasn’t going to be dispensing parenting advice, or telling us what was good or bad about certain methods of parenting. Most mothers out there are so bombarded with advice from everyone we meet, that another opinion is not necessary. I think I speak for many mothers when I say, I liked just being able to sit back, identify with what Jaquie has been through, and be thankful that I’m past those very challenging first few months now!
Good stuff, Jaquie Brown. I’ll be tuning in next week.
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