So I have a thing for sappy movies about single mothers. Always have. And one of my favorite sappy movies about single moms is One Fine Day, featuring Michelle Pfeiffer and George Clooney. It's one of those idyllic, perfectly plotted films where the heroine has an obvious conflict (work vs. kid) and of course the hero comes in to save the day, as they swap childcare so they can both meet important work deadlines. And of course fall in love.
Personally I could do without the falling in love part--though George Clooney isn't half bad--but what I like about the movie is it exemplifies--without sentimentalizing, without trivializing--what I find most challenging about being a single mom: negotiating that whole work vs. kid thing. Pfeiffer's character is a good mom who dotes on her son. She is also a good employee who, faced with a direct conflict between caring for her son and going the extra mile on the job, ultimately chooses her kid. What this movie never says is she can't have both. In the end, she has a job, a kid, and even something she wasn't expecting.
I expect there's a longer essay in this for me, and I've been thinking about how to organize that essay collection, featuring significant moments in my journey to negotiate home and work. Watching that movie last night, after reading a new collection Mama, PhD, while my daughter refused to go to bed, and while ignoring the pile of dishes in the sink and the toys scattered everywhere...well, that's one such moment.
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