Olive's Mummy, of course we are not making a blanket reference of ALL Mums/parents. We are looking at the situations where it is used the most - and that's where often its just the wrong thing to say and isn't helpful to anyone. You're right, some mums who go to FF don't have any issues with it, but it's actually been said earlier in this thread (you might have missed it) that they are the Mum's who DON'T need to hear the statement. It's the ones who have the huge internal struggle with it who it gets said too and who really don't need to hear it, because then it's like they have to trick themselves into thinking it must be true, so I must be happy - all the while wearing their rose coloured glasses.

So maybe it is their ticket, or their validation of what they are doing is right, and often it might be right, but it's all a little fake, when you have someone telling herself that she *must* be happy because her baby is. We're all sort of saying that no, it's not alright and we're allowed to feel unhappy even if what we do makes our baby happy. The fulfilment bit came later as the thread evolved. I personally think fulfilment is a separate issue, but I'm happy to discuss it here too. I'm the sort of person who lets most of life roll off my back like the proverbial duck. I had a pretty ordinary childhood and I've grown up with very little expectations of life, so anything positive that happens is a bonus, so therefore I am a happy and fulfilled person because I take pleasure in the little things, I don't need to go searching for it because I already have it.