babble » blogs » Strollerderby
Strollerderby
The Parenting Wisdom of Betty Draper from Mad Men
Go watch TV!
Go bang your head against a wall!
What did i just say?
You don’t listen!
What is wrong with you?
Freeze!
Go upstairs!
One of the funniest viral videos making the rounds this week is New York Magazine’s compilation of the parenting wit and wisdom of Mad Men’s Betty Draper.
Betty Draper is one of television’s worst parents, second to none (Ok, maybe Livia Soprano had her beat). As I‘ve written previously, she’s widely reviled by the Mad Men’s fan cognoscenti, who routinely dub her a narcissistic and abusive mom while giving her duplicitous philanderer of a (ex) husband a pass, probably because he’s played by Jon Hamm and pretty much everyone watching the show wants to do him.
I know I am supposed to join the Greek chorus of Betty Draper tut-tutters, but I confess I find something liberating about watching her parenting her children really, really badly week after week. Betty is not worried about her children’s delicate psychological state. She’s clearly annoyed to be trapped in the house with them hour after hour, day after day and she is going to let them know it.
Can we honestly say we feel any different, at least some of the time? Who among us hasn’t gotten angry at their children? Who hasn’t yelled at them disproportionately or said something inappropriately sarcastic or adult to a child younger than ten? Who hasn’t snapped at least once and told their children to go away or watch television?
Betty Draper lives so we can feel good about our parenting sins.
Let she who is without sin cast the first stone.
More Posts:
Bethenny Frankel’s Mom Strikes Back
Coke Ends Facebook Campaign After Promoting Porn to Teens
Are the Real Housewives Violating Child Labor Laws?
Does Kate Gosselin Need Mommy “Me” Time?
Mad Men’s Bad Mom Receives Emmy Nod
Model Adrianne Curry Bashes Breastfeeding on Twitter
Meet The Original Grandparents
How to Talk to Children About Money
Proposed Airline Peanut Ban Cancelled
Parents Sue after Children Cut from Team
Could it Be Cheaper to Live in the City Than Suburbs
Whatever Happened to Flextime?
Leading British Fertility Specialist Says Women Should Have Children in Their Twenties
Go Back To Strollerderby
0 Comments
[...] Parenting Wisdom from Mad Men [...]
Blagojevich Daughters Attend Dad's Corruption Trial | Strollerderby commented on Jul 27 10 at 8:32 am[...] Parenting Wisdom from Mad Men [...]
Is Danielle Staub "the best mom in the world?" | Strollerderby commented on Jul 28 10 at 11:20 am[...] self-critical, categorical, parenting world. Betty and Nancy are sure to assuage our guilt. As one blogger says, “Betty Draper lives so we can feel good about our parenting [...]
Parenting, As Seen On TV | Seattle Mama Doc commented on Aug 09 10 at 12:29 pmpaulabernstein commented on Jul 23 10 at 11:00 amLove this! Gotta say that part of the pleasure out of watching “Mad Men” (aside from ogling Jon Hamm) is Betty’s bad parenting — in comparison to Betty, I’m a really good parent. It also puts “free-range parenting” in perspective. Until fairly recently, all parenting was “free-range.” Going to check out the compilation now.
anon commented on Jul 23 10 at 2:58 pmI’m not ready for Season 4 yet because I still have 7 episodes of Season 3 left. I know that she’s not the best parent, but I think everyone is hard on Betty. One example of her bad parenting was locking Sally in the closet when she caught her smoking. Please…. it was for 10 seconds, and she was trying to make an impression on the girl. I bet she did! The Betty character is a housewife who is singlehandedly raising her kids with very little input from her husband and the kids’ father. There are so many other things on that show that make me laugh out loud at the absurdity of them, but her parenting skills are not one of them. Sure, Don is a hottie, but would you want to be married to him? He sleeps with his daughter’s teacher for crying out loud!
PJ commented on Sep 27 10 at 9:05 am@anon – you must surely win the prize as a parent. she is a terrible mother because she only cares about herself. she only had children to complete the fairy tale picture of how she sees her life. the pretty little model doll with the perfect family. betty has friends to watch her kids and poor carla who appaerntly has no other life than to raise the kids. it’s not like betty has a job. her whole life is a vacation. and when something, like the kids, interrupts her vacation…watch out!
Add your take:
Note: Babble is a supportive, diverse community. We encourage a range of opinions,
but any unduly hostile comments will be removed.
Comments are delayed up to 15 minutes
Joslyn Gray 
Amber Doty 
Julianna Miner 
Monica Bielanko 
Sierra Black 
Meredith Carroll 
Carolyn Castiglia 
Sunny Chanel 
Madeline Holler 
Wendy Michaels 
Rebecca Odes 
Danielle Smith 
Danielle Sullivan 
Katherine Stone 
The Walt Disney Company supports Babble as a platform dedicated to honest, engaged, informed, intelligent and open conversation about parenting. However, the opinions expressed on this site are those of individual parents/writers and do not reflect the views of Disney. In addition, content provided on this site is for entertainment or informational purposes only and should not be construed as medical advice, diagnosis, treatment, or safety advice.
0