NOW CLOSED Take a look at Fiat's viral video "The Motherhood" and tell us what motherhood means to you - there's a £200 Mamas & Papas voucher to be won!

[KatieBMumsnet]

In anticipation of the launch of the new Fiat 500L next year, the folks at Fiat have released a video showcasing what motherhood is like for one woman. Here's what they say: "We hope that by exaggerating the reality of embracing a new life stage in this viral will raise a knowing smile from mums everywhere."

Please take a couple of minutes of your time (well 3.12 to be precise) to and come back to this thread to tell us your thoughts on the joys of motherhood. Are there any parts in the video that you feel sum you up? Was there anything you particularly related to? What line do you think is missing from the song? We know this may not be everyone's cup of tea, so if you don't think this portrays motherhood in your eyes, what does? How would you describe how being a mum makes you feel? What are the highs and lows of life post children vs life before?

We want to know how Mumsnetters describe motherhood, so please add your comments below.

Everyone who adds a comment to this thread will be entered into a prize draw where one winner will receive a £200 Mamas & Papas voucher.

Thanks and good luck with the prize draw!

MNHQ

[PlentyOfPubeGardens]

I thought it was really cringey. Was it dreamed up by a 50 y/o trying to look cool? Didn't relate to it at all. No mention of fathers, far too well groomed, perfect house etc. and I thought the references to 'bitches and hose' were decidedly off. Didn't really notice the car but then I'm not a driver. Clearly I'm not the target audience

Motherhood to me at the moment means steering the DC through the traumas of taking on adult responsibilities - budgeting, taking on a fair share of the household chores, careers advice, relationships ... I do sometimes hanker for the early days of babyhood and BFing but this video didn't make me feel nostalgic at all because it was nothing like that for me!

Viral? It's not viral if you have to say 'come and look at our viral video' - what are they teaching the youngsters nowadays?

[PlentyOfPubeGardens]

And what SGM said.

[MissChristmastRee]

I saw this video on Facebook earlier today and had to share it! I found it hilarious

[geekette]

A cooked version of the P&G ads if you ask me.
I hate these mother martyr/goodie two shoes/do-it-all mum ads.

When they make an ad which can portray mum as one of the peace makers in the household instead of the be-all/end-all, maybe then I'll take a look at the car.

[littlemonkeychops]

Quite a funny idea but agree with some of above posters, apart from toys on the floor and one messy worktop she looked like a model in a show-home, and no way that's a comfortable car for 3 kids.

Motherhood? Well lots of the lyrics rang true, but they were all the negatives, where were all the lovely positives, the early morning snuggles, silly games, smiles etc :-)

[GetKnitted]

It was amusing, not worth watching a second time though, so I don't think this is really going to go totally viral. I liked the yoghurt all over the laptop, I can see that happening in our house.

Motherhood is looking after real little people, full time.

[MadameBoolala]

Yes, and what she said (Pubegardens)about viral. It's a bit blatant to be viral isn't it?

[MadameBoolala]

Pubegardens Grrrr boldfail.

[SamSmalaidh]

It did make me laugh BUT

In what way is it a viral? It's just an ad.

That car does not look big enough to get three car seats in the back

I don't remember every being covered in that much baby sick. And that woman mentioned expressing about 10 times!

[Djembe]

Yep waaaay too negative. Motherhood is the most challenging job I've ever done. YES the most frustrating and difficult, but the most rewarding. 'Downtrodden housewife'? No.

[FlourFace]

Awful. Drivel. Sexist. Embarrassingly cringey. No better than the Asda ad.

However if the job of the ad was to make motherhood sound like shite, they are halfway there. No orgasms? Bog off.

Sake the ad agency.

[bealos]

It's a massive rip off of these guys who did the 'parent rap' >>

However, the original is quite good. The Fiat version isn't.

[bealos]

[now with hyperlink]

It's a massive rip off of these guys who did the 'parent rap' >>

However, the original is quite good. The Fiat version isn't.

[bealos]

I think their ad agency wishes it would go viral. Ha. Such an overused term in ad land.

[TheFoosa]

It's awful.

Would put me off parenthood completely if I were a young woman.

I hate it when ad companies think that they 'get' who you are but maybe I'm the wrong demographic' i.e. poor and not young.

[TantrumsAndBalloons]

I kind of like the idea of it and as long as you see it for what it is, a humorous ad, it isn't too cringeworthy.

I would have expected the car to feature a lot more. And as its aimed at families, practicalities like showing you can fit 3 child seats in, the size of the boot etc would have been more helpful.

And more fun! Yes it's hard with a young family but there are fun times too, all the children singing along with the radio, playing games, laughing.

What does motherhood mean to me?
When my first child was born I was 19 and terrified. I knew nothing about looking after a baby. When we bought her home, we just looked at her for hours, absolutely shell shocked and scared that we had the responsibility of ensuring this tiny baby grew up to be an amazing person.

That little baby is 14 now, and yes she's amazing, as are her siblings.
To me motherhood is about the joy of watching them grow, develop their own personalities, it's about sacrifice, that's true, things that were vitally important before become less so, priorities change.

Sometimes it's a feeling of utter helplessness, sometimes it's reaching the end of the day and wondering how you got through it, some days are mundane and boring, some are just amazing.
There is the horrible feeling of seeing your child hurt or unwell, then the next week seeing them achieve something amazing.

I think as a parent, you run the gauntlet of every different emotion daily!

In the end we all do our best and hope our children grow up to achieve the absolute best they can, that they are happy, healthy, and reach their potential.
And then they leave home. And we sit back and anticipate the day we get to become overbearing mother in laws and doting grannies!

[swallowedAfly]

i actually really liked it - quite a few giggles

there should be something in there contrasting former life of trekking in nepal to trying to conquer the laundry mountain i reckon.

[LittleLolly]

I found it quite funny!

To me, motherhood is lots of the things featured in that video; tiredness, sleepless nights, huge sack instead of lovely handbag, mess and cluttered surfaces - how does one small person have so much stuff?

It is also the most amazing, emotional, eye-opening experience of my life. Even if I am starving, dehydrated, close to wetting myself as I can't get to the bathroom, surrounded by mess and smelling like sick it all fades into nothing when DS holds my finger in his chubby little hand and smiles up at me. I didn't realise it was possible to love someone so much and so fiercely.

[gazzalw]

Like the look of the car for all that we could see of it...quite funky and not too large....

But she was way too soignee to be really the mother of three youngish children including a baby....She didn't look fraught or as if she was doing anything in a hurry...The house looked immaculate but for the staged mess..where were the cobwebs and stained carpets????

It looked like an ad man's view of motherhood not the reality at all....

[DoeEyedBeauties]

Had a chuckle, but I agree that 'The Parent Rap' sums it up better. My husband could relate to it as well.

p.s. I actually liked the bitches and hoes line, but I'm gansta like dat!

[Curtsey]

It was pretty good. A little bit too 'knowing' though - it felt like you could see the hours of brainstorming that went on behind it it. The ads that make me laugh most are usually ones that have a slightly stealth bizarre/wtf aspect about them - you're not quite sure why you find this ad so frigging hilarious but you do.

I digress. It was a good effort for sure. Definitely the first time I've heard words like 'episiostomy' in an ad -also, could this be the first depiction ever of a breastfeeding mother? If so well done to Fiat. Maybe next time have the mum parked outside a fancy hotel or something wrestling with her dress in in order to feed squawking infant...

[Curtsey]

...And have a dad in the backseat upending the car looking for a bib/sock/whatever to wipe up random spillages...dads aren't exempt from this stuff...

[Wordsmith]

I like it, but then I have a Fiat 500 and I love it.
I would never have bought it when my kids were little though - and I don't see enough of this car in the viral to realise that it's bigger/a 6-seater/family friendly.

[ISpyDingDongMerrilyOnHigh]

Hmmm - well, I suppose a few of the lines are quite funny but overall I found it a bit cringy and something about it just didn't work. I think it was the fact that she seemed to be comparing her life with children to before, but doesn't look like she'd have lead a 'gangsta' lifestyle pre-DC so all the references are a bit daft. Also agree with what pps have said about dwelling on all the negatives although I suppose that's where the humour is meant to come from.

[willitbe]

The video reminded me of a few years ago, and the lack of ability to deal with my own needs without having dealt with the children and dh's first. Most of the comments were all things I have said or felt in the past regarding being a mother, although I was never as slim as the woman in the video after having children!

I would have loved another verse about the progression onto teenagers and becoming the grandmother (not that I have reached that stage yet!). And how motherhood never leaves you.

How does being a mother make me feel - I feel like I have been given a very precious gift. One I hope I never take for granted or resent.

Pre-children, I wanted children, that has not changed, but the amazing experience of being a mother has pushed me harder than any job or responsibility ever did before. It has stretched me physically, emotionally, mentally and even spiritually. It is the only thing in life that truely invades every aspect of your life in one way or another.