I could be late to the party here, but a friend tipped me off about the Australian Netflix series, The Letdown.
It’s about a woman, Audrey, and life her new baby. In episode 1 she heads to a new Mummy group, tries to head out for a night with her friends and have sex with her hubby. It’s funny and traumatic in equal measures. A reminder of what its like to have a newborn filled with the some of the dark comedy that is motherhood! Audrey is played by Alison Bell who does a great job of gaining our sympathy and giving us that feeling of awkwardness.
The reminder of the TOTAL exhaustion is enough to act as a contraception, and the Mum’s group will make you laugh so much! The diverse views on motherhood are hilarious and it just goes to show, that whatever we might expect about being a Mum, it is full of surprises.
Episode 2 is more navigation of parent hood and the world of parenting books. Controlled crying enters their world, and with the Dad stood with a stop watch it is almost funny, but the crying baby reminds you of the heart wrench you feel as a Mummy. It takes me back! I’d never heard of the concept of a ‘SMUM’ till I watched this series. Apparently it’s a Smart Middleclass Uninvolved Mum. That’s a new one on me.
The Mum goes into meltdown with exhaustion, and we have ALL been there. There is no Mum that hasn’t had that tearful moment of feeling like it’s never going to get any better. Even those Mums who seem like they have it all together have their challenges as it shows towards the end of the episode.
Her friends and family are quite frankly useless, and its impossible to watch without feeling her pain. If you are debating having another child, get watching and it’ll put you off. And if you are done with making babies is definitely worth a watch as you will reminded how far you have come!