Happy Motherlover March!
…I’ve decided it’s Motherlover March because for the next five weeks, Motherlover will actually be set in the month in which it’s being posted. I think this has happened, like… once. Woo!
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TRANSCRIPT
Panel 1 (Imogen collecting cups and garbage)
Alex, off-panel: I don’t think this house has seen this much action in years.
Imogen: I know, sorry, I’m trying to keep them from wrecking everything…
Panel 2 (Imogen turning away from Alex, extreme foreground)
Imogen: Adrian spilled milk this morning so everything went in the wash… so since I was doing laundry anyway, I ran your hamper through. Haven’t had time to fold it yet, so if you need something for rehearsal it’s probably in a pile still…
Panel 3 (Imogen washing dishes, Alex with her hand on her shoulder. In the background, Gavin enters)
Imogen: And the gardener called to remind you that the… bor-gan-vee-yah? …need to be cut back this month, and-
Alex: Hold on, you did all that today?
Panel 4 (Alex, close up, as Imogen turns away again)
Alex: You know you don’t have to earn your keep, right?
Panel 5 (Imogen putting the hairdressing smock thing (??) on Gavin)
Imogen: I know! It helps me keep my mind off everything, honestly.
Is Alex really surprised that she did some laundry and handled a phone call from her gardener? That’s not a lot. It’s not about earning your keep. It’s not even about keeping your mind off things. It’s the bare minimum to keep a house functional.
I’m guessing she meant “on top of caring for this many kids, breakfast and lunch for the lot, entertainment, etc”?
Not to mention that it’s not just laundry, but laundry or at least 5 people plus whatever got milk spilled on it. That’s a solid few hours.
Agreed, either Alex has forgotten how much work just passes through a given day or it’s more surprise that Imogen hasn’t kicked back and relaxed the way Alex imagines she herself would have.
Hooray for Motherlover March!
That gentle reassuring hand on Imogen’s shoulder 😻👍Every panel these 2 are in is a W for the gays 💛
I honestly feel as though Imogen is lying in that very last panel. Her movements, the “I know!” and the glasses sheen feel so falsely chipper as I would imagine she is in a constant state of survival mode. Constant back and forth arguments with a toxic ex-to-be, the lingering gaslighting, trying to make sure her children’s sense of normalcy and structure isn’t completely destroyed (which I fear will lead to parenting by guilt), and just trying not to fracture the friendship she built with Alex by projecting her feelings of insecurity and being a burden onto her.
Imogen has to feel so incredibly vulnerable and helpless right now. The person she thought was her partner, her love, and holder of trust has betrayed her in one of the worst ways imaginable. If she couldn’t trust THAT person and what they have to say at face value, how much does she believe she can actually trust Alex and if she says things are okay?
Apologies for the long ramble! I love your work and I’m tired and had all of this in my head. I look forward to every upload. <3
Thank you for the long ramble 😉
I know something of this. If she continues to show love the way she knows how to love (and overcompensates), she doesn’t have to feel that she’s a burden. Existing isn’t enough, one must be “useful” to be worthy of compassion 🙁
Can’t wait to see Alex help Imogen see that she is enough exactly as she is.
Between this and Encanto I am *extremely* here for more narratives about people like Imogen (& Luisa) finding relief and self-worth.
I love this. <3 heartwarming AF.
Oh, those are some Anthy glasses, those are some ANTHY GLASSES.
I mean, this is undoubtedly comforting in the sense that it’s stable, familiar, something Imogen knows she can handle, even if it’s a lot, because at least it’s in her CONTROL. But it’s not sustainable!! I mean, this is on TOP of the nonsense she was just handling with Jon, AND she’s actively giving her kids haircuts at the same time.
Now Alex is home, so she can start showing Imogen what co-parenting and running a household with a proper PARTNER looks and feels like. ❤ Equal consideration of time, needs, all that good stuff. No more Secretary Mommywife!
(Oh, and happy birthday to Imogen tomorrow, 3/3!)
I do hope that Imogen can dial some of this back, since god is she going to burn herself out, but old habits die hard.
Does Alex seriously think a couple loads of laundry is too much work? That has nothing to do with earning one’s keep. It’s literally just the basics of keeping a household running. Maybe as a mother of 3 I have a hard time seeing what Imogen is doing as anything more than usual. I guess it’s implied Imogen is not delegating tasks to her kids so she can keep herself busy and her mind off of things. But Alex clearly has no idea what it takes to take care of a household larger than 2.
It isn’t that Imogen did the laundry, it’s that Imogen, a *guest* did *Alex’s* laundry and is coordinating with service workers for the house.
While the audience knows they eventually end up in a relationship, they are not currently in one. And Alex offered Imogen a place for her and the boys to stay to escape from a bad marriage without conditions.
You’re forgetting that this isn’t Imogen’s house, she is a guest in Alex’s home. Alex probably feels like Imogen is taking on too much responsibility over a house that isn’t hers on top of all the other stuff she’s has to do with taking care of the children and dealing with Johnathan. She also probably doesn’t want Imogen to start feeling like she’s being used the way Johnathan used her, as free labor in the guise of a wife.
I think it’s because it was Alex’s laundry. Alex isn’t used to someone doing her laundry for her, and she definitely doesn’t feel that her laundry is Imogen’s job. I get where both of them are coming from, though.
Right, exactly that.
Plus, I mean, Alex has one kid of her own. She also probably marveling at someone who juggles a lot more housework than that entails on a regular basis. Like, I doubt she thought Imogen took it easy or anything, but it’s another thing altogether to see it in action.
Shoot, a little disheartening to see people downplay what all Imogen did in a day/criticize Alex for thinking it’s a lot. Laundry, phone call, haircuts for all her kids, plus normal daily whatnot.. And on top of that the trauma of being in the midst of a separation, being jerked around between therapy or divorce or whatever, after being emotionally abused and cheated on. Like, I guess its just my neurodiverse trauma brain, but I’m pretty sure with all that stress I’d hardly get out of bed, much less accomplish a days worth of chores. It’s a lot relative to the emotional stress she’s surely enduring. Maybe on another day it’s not a lot, but on this day it is.
Those commenters are grumpy because no one ever looks at the unpaid labor they’re doing and says “wait, you did ALL THAT *today*???”