How Millennial Moms Are Changing Motherhood | Katherine Wintsch
How Millennial Moms Are Changing Motherhood | Katherine Wintsch 3/16/15, 9:32 AM iOS app (http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/the-huffington-post/id306621789?mt=8) Desktop Alerts Log in Create Account Android app (https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.huffingtonpost.android&hl=en) More (/big-news/#parents) March 16, 2015 (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/parents) Edition: U.S. Like 734k Follow Newsletters Huffington Post Search FRONT PAGE HEALTHY LIVING TEEN WOMEN (HTTP://WWW.HUFFINGTONPOST.COM) (HTTP://WWW.HUFFINGTONPOST.COM/HEALTHY- (HTTP://WWW.HUFFINGTONPOST.COM/TEEN/) (HTTP://WWW.HUFFINGTONPOST.COM/W Parents (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/parents/) • Moms (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/news/parents-moms/) • Dads (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/news/parents-dads/) LIVING/) • Pregnancy (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/news/parents-pregnancy/) • Babies (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/news/parents-babies/) • Toddlers (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/news/parents-toddlers/) • Kids (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/news/parents-kids/) • Teens (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/news/parents-teens/) • Global Motherhood (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/news/global-motherhood/) • Back To School (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/news/parents-back-to-school/) • Third Metric (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/news/third-metric/) • Healthy Kids (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/news/parents-healthy-kids/) • Love Matters (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/news/love-matters/) Safari Power Saver Click to Start Flash Plug-in HOT ON THE BLOG Featuring fresh takes and real-time analysis from HuffPost's signature lineup of contributors Maria Shriver Mika Brzezinski (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/maria(http://www.huffingtonpost.com/mikashriver/help-me-wipe-out- brzezinski/syria-one- alzheimers- womans- now_b_6876890.html? story_1_b_6872474.html? utm_hp_ref=Parents) utm_hp_ref=Parents) Dr. Peggy Drexler Stedman Graham (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/peggy(http://www.huffingtonpost.com/stedmandrexler/mean-people-suck- graham/passion-with-a- but-they-are-often- purposefro_b_6839142.html? successful_b_6867734.html? utm_hp_ref=Parents) utm_hp_ref=Parents) Katherine Wintsch (/katherine-wintsch/) Become a (/users/login/) (http://twitter.com/kwintsch) fan (/users/becomeFan.php?of=hp_blogger_Katherine Wintsch) Founder & CEO: The Mom Complex How Millennial Moms Are Changing Motherhood Posted: 05/28/2013 11:56 am EDT Updated: 07/28/2013 5:12 am EDT 18 (javscript:void(0)) ADVERTISEMENT Safari Power Saver Click to Start Flash Plug-in Like 8 Share (https://www.facebook.com/sharer/sharer.php?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.huffingtonpost.com%2Fkatherine-wintsch%2Fhow- 10 millennial-moms-are-c_b_3319578.html) Tweet (https://twitter.com/intent/tweet? 0 lang=en&text=How+Millennial+Moms+Are+Changing+Motherhood+http%3A%2F%2Fhuff.to%2F18qwh9g) (http://www.pinterest.com/pin/create/button/? 0 media=&description=How+Millennial+Moms+Are+Changing+Motherhood&url=http%3A//www.huffingtonpost.com/katherineComment wintsch/how-millennial-moms-are-c_b_3319578.html) The old childhood cadence is familiar: "Sally and Johnny sitting in tree, k-i-s-s-in-g..." http://www.huffingtonpost.com/katherine-wintsch/how-millennial-moms-are-c_b_3319578.html Page 1 of 4 How Millennial Moms Are Changing Motherhood | Katherine Wintsch For generations, the path to domestic bliss was pretty clearly mapped out for young women. Study hard, go to college, fall in love and get married. Check, check, check, check. Next up, buy a house in the 'burbs, get pregnant (twice) and go back to work when the kids start school. Then, at 62, retire and become the world's best grandmother. And then came the Millennials, the generation between the ages of 18 and 33 that's taken upon itself to rewrite the book on finding fulfillment. In this new version, the only "right" path is the one that leads to happiness. Millennials are not only changing what constitutes family, they're shifting popular opinion. More than four in five (http://www.pewsocialtrends.org/2010/11/18/thedecline-of-marriage-and-rise-of-new-families/) Millennials say that two parents (married or unmarried, gay or straight) constitute a family. To these moms, the nuclear family is becoming more of the exception than the rule. These attitudinal shifts are visible in every aspect of the Millennials' life, and the work place is no different. In fact, career (http://www.careeradvisoryboard.org/public/uploads/2011/10/Executive-SummaryThe-Future-of-Millennial-Careers.pdf) is among the Millennials' top five life goals (the only generation of moms to say so) and helps give her a sense of identity other than "mom." But these examples of living life "out of order" don't simply amount to a demographic shift. It's symbolic of a larger movement that celebrates pragmatism over perfection, replacing the idea of June Cleaver with a more attainable, realistic you. In fact, Millennial moms give themselves a "B" at balancing the demands of motherhood. They embrace the motto that it's perfectly ok to be imperfect. Growing up, my parents, like most, just wanted my brother and me to be happy. And yet, as I found success (and what others described as happiness) at work, I felt guilt over the decisions I was making for my family and doubt about how I stacked up against other moms. As I watch the framework for motherhood change right in front of me, I can say with great certainty that these moms are happy, and it's not because they're comparing their decisions to mine. I only hope that my children take a page out of the Millennial playbook by approaching parenthood on their own terms. I'll be curious to see how my experience and well wishes for their happiness shape their definition of fulfillment. How do you think the Millennial motherhood re-boot will shape the next generation of mothers? 3/16/15, 9:32 AM Search for a baby name.. Or search with the options below girl familiar Meaning : boy popular either unusual sweet Origin : A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z search SUGGESTED FOR YOU 1. Hilary Duff's Bikini Selfie Is For All The Moms Out There an hour ago huffingtonpost.com The Huffington Post AOL Forex Cavan Sieczkowski Cavan Sieczkowski Most Popular on HuffPost 2. 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Parents Get top stories and blog posts emailed to me each day.. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/katherine-wintsch/how-millennial-moms-are-c_b_3319578.html Page 3 of 4 How Millennial Moms Are Changing Motherhood | Katherine Wintsch 3/16/15, 9:32 AM Huffington Post Search Advertise (Http://Advertising.aol.com/Brands/Huffington-Post) Log In (/Users/Login/) RSS (/Syndication) Make HuffPost Your Home Page (/Makehome/) Careers (/Jobs/) User Agreement (/Terms.html) FAQ (/Faq/) Privacy (Http://Privacy.aol.com/) Comment Policy (/Comment/Policy/) About Us (/P/Huffington-Post.html) About Our Ads (Http://Adinfo.aol.com/About-Our-Ads/) Copyright ©2015 TheHuffingtonPost.com, Inc. Contact Us (/Contact/) "The Huffington Post" is a registered trademark of TheHuffingtonPost.com, Inc. All rights reserved. Part of AOL Family http://www.huffingtonpost.com/katherine-wintsch/how-millennial-moms-are-c_b_3319578.html Page 4 of 4
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