A fragment of Weed Mother by Danielle Simone Brand (Berkeley, AIX.: Ulysses Press, 2020), 286 p.
Danielle Simone Brand
When I began to notice that cannabis profoundly changes my upbringing, I kept my mother to my friends and community. Somehow it felt bad to me, like admitting that I only had sex with my husband while I had a shitty face (no) or swallowing a cocktail of pharmaceuticals to deal with my editor (not again). He feared that parenting, even slightly under the influence of cannabis, would be seen as a blow-out, at best, or as negligence and abuse, at worst. It is sad, but it is true, that stigmas and taboos around cannabis use remain. And when it comes to a perceived failure in the category of moral righteousness, few in our society are judged more harshly than mothers.
Ironically, the only person I felt comfortable telling about my new parenting pleasure was my husband. I had once been critical of its use, both before and after children, but now, at least on some level, I got it. When I consume responsibly, I am not a different person or a chemically forged super mother. What I am is a less daring version of me. A scarier, more grateful, and honestly more exciting version: like the self of a universe just a click away, a self that doesn’t stress nearly as much on things that don’t actually require stress. Now, I admit, this version of me doesn’t mix with typing on the deadline, or operating a motor vehicle, or doing anything that requires my sharpest intelligence and hand-eye coordination: you get the picture. But it mixes incredibly well with building fairy houses, playing (but not winning) board games, and running around the park with my kids and our dog. I do not use or recommend weeds in all parenting situations, it is true. But for some of the mundane tasks and in the most relaxed moments, cannabis is an advantage for our family. I have a break from my mental habits of worry, programming and direction, and they get the funniest version of me for the occasion. And that, my husband understands perfectly. When I told him, he didn’t even judge me for having judged him on pot and raising the moons that he did a lot. (Thanks love!)
It took me a while to reflect on my new finding and I finally found some kind of peace before I could share it with most other mothers in my life. But once I got out of the weed closet and admitted to the closest and dearest that I love smoking weed and hanging out with my kids, they also started coming out with all sorts of other weeds. of this closet. The first time I found myself watching the kids in the yard after school and receiving information from another mom about how she prefers signs of anxiety, I knew things were about to take an interest.
I heard some of them I mothers who started smoking cannabis in college and still enjoy it from time to time. I also listened to moms without much prior experience of who I had heard of CBD or in low doses THC products and tried to relieve pain, to sleep better, or to reactivate their sexual desire. Even mothers who weren’t quite ready to immerse themselves in the new world of cannabis were eager to know about it. Some of the mothers I spoke to were fathers at home, and some were lawyers or teachers or business owners or restaurateurs. Your common thread? Curiosity about the new world of legal cannabis and what it means to all of us.
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