MOTHERHOOD MIGHT BE HARDER THAN I THINK
Obviously being a mother is hard, but recent studies show that it’s way harder than I think it will be. I was a preschool teacher for five years mostly to learn what not to do when parenting. I didn’t know it then, but I was subconsciously training for parenthood every day I changed those kid’s diapers, sang them songs to go to sleep, and dealt with their horrible parents every day before and after school. I was learning what to do and what not to do. Motherhood just might be a lot harder than I thought. Women have some serious challenges when it comes to this balancing act.
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MILLENNIALS KNOW NOTHING OF THESE MOTHERHOOD CHALLENGES
Studies are showing, however that parenthood is sneaking up on a lot of us, but mostly on college-educated women. I am one of these so this is actually pretty terrifying. The studies show that these women thought motherhood would be compatible with the careers they they had spent years building. They thought that because they were educated, they were earners, and they were older that they would be better equipped for motherhood.
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THAT WORD DOESN’T MEAN WHAT YOU THINK IT MEANS
Turns out, the opposite is true. Hardly any college-educated women say they will become “homemakers” before they are mothers even though most of them expect to have babies at some point. This makes it incredibly hard when they do become homemakers; they were prepared for it and they never though it would happen to them.
WOMEN TODAY FACE THE SAME CONUNDRUM, KIDS VS. CAFEER
Motherhood has also become more demanding in recent decades. We are expected to breastfeed for years and invest in all sorts of enriching activities for our children. The job is bigger and we are planning for it less and less. The take-away for me here is difficult, but needs to be internalized. If I want to be at home with my child I might have to take a serious break from my career. Hopefully there will be a way for the sacrifices to be shared between me and my partner.