Second Thoughts About Parenting
THE SEVEN-YEAR ITCH
By Alison Patton
As a divorce lawyer, I saw it all the time: the disillusionment, the end of the dream, the realization that your spouse is flawed (and for the more enlightened, an awareness of your own failings, too). Around the seven-year mark, couples unable to get beyond the death of the “perfect marriage fantasy” ended up in my office with the seven-year itch. So as a mother, I have found it particularly interesting to see this same phenomenon happening with motherhood. When my first child reached 7, I had already accepted that I was not a perfect wife, and my husband and I had faced and survived the marriage crisis. I was taken by surprise, however, when I realized I was not a perfect mother, and my son and daughter were far from perfect as well.
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