As a child, Cyndi made this drawing of motherhood: ‘I now realize how old-fashioned that was’

‘My parents recently cleaned up their attic and came across all kinds of old things from me,’ she says. “I got reports from kindergarten pressed into my hands and diaries from high school. But there were also drawings of primary school that I made for my mother when I was growing up. And one of them struck me. ‘

Superhero

Cyndi was seven when she drew a picture about motherhood. “I probably meant it as a tribute to my mother and she was a superhero to me,” she says. But when I saw the drawing last, it reminded me of the expectations placed on mothers. It was a kind of cartoon of a mother who was cleaning, cooking and washing. ‘

Source: Cyndi Harvell Lee

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Gravity

“It made me emotional,” says Cyndi. ‘Of course mothers keep their families functioning, that’s their job. You can actually compare the responsibilities of a mother with gravity: we only notice it when it is not there. But nowhere in my drawing did it say that mothers also do other things: write novels, heal patients, design buildings or make art. ‘

Hobbies

The drawing makes Cyndi extra aware of what she wants to give to her own children. ‘I want them to know that they are not the center of my universe. They are incredibly important, but the needs of others in the family are also very important. ”

She herself has enough hobbies and activities: ‘I recently started painting. I show my kids that, just like everything else I’m doing. I don’t want them to be seven and also think that cooking and cleaning is all they can expect from their mother. Their drawing should also say that I paint, sing, run my own company and experience adventures with them. ‘