The Daily Life of Contemporary Mothers – Between Social Expectations, the Sense of Duty and the Individual Experience of Motherhood

Abstract

The aim of this paper is to present the dilemmas of everyday life of contemporary mothers related to society’s expectations of motherhood and their individual experiences. The research problem was the (re)construction of everyday life of modern mothers during a pandemic. The narrative interview technique was used in the research. This article analyzes how mothers experience mother-hood during a pandemic against the background of social transformations. The issue of everyday life as an important category was presented in the considerations contained in the article below. Then, the methodological assumptions and research results focused on the issues of the multiplic-ity of choices in the present day and the difficulties associated with them, as well as the everyday life of mothers, were presented. The article ends with reflections on the situation of mothers in the context of contemporary challenges. A conclusion can be drawn about the positioning of motherhood between the traditional and modern pattern of the ideal mother. First of all, mothers feel tired of the seri-ousness of the role they play, and from fulfilling which many people can “hold them accountable”. The conducted research shows interesting conclusions pointing to changes related to the perception of the role of the mother in modern times. They contribute to the undertaking of more extensive research on the need for (re)construction(re)construction of motherhood.