littlewonder -> RE: Is child rearing an act of masochism? (12/12/2012 8:53:19 PM)
|
quote:
ORIGINAL: LaTigresse Luci, it's not that I don't love my kids. Not that I don't enjoy them.......much of the time. I have to admit that, right now, the last few weeks, I could cheerfully sent my 33 yo son on a one way trip to Mars. My daughter, we do have our struggles. I was 16 and 18 when my kids were created. I didn't really have the opportunity to consider whether or not I wanted to be a mother. I just was. I went from being a freshman in high school to pregnant and married. I did not have a choice. It happened. And to be honest, it wasn't that big of a stretch, I had been raising my 5 younger siblings for years already. It was just two more. Much of the time I had a house full of kids. I drove either a huge boat of a Chevy Impala station wagon or a Ford Econoline van.....because that is what I could fit the whole crew into. After my daughter was born I had a tubal ligation. I was 18 and the doctor did not want to do it. I had to sign a stack of forms, promising to never sue. No, being a mother was not easy and much of the time it was not fun. But I guaranfuckintee that, not only my two kids, but also my 5 siblings, know they are loved and wanted. We have our moments, like most families, but we are family. We love one another. Of that there is no doubt. I simply didn't have a burning need to be a mother. Being pregnant was misery. I was young and unprepared for motherhood when it was dumped upon me. I didn't get the opportunity to go to college or decide what I wanted to be when I grew up. It was decided for me when I got pregnant one night, the summer of 1978. I've simply played the cards I got. My kids seem to be quite happy with the way the game has gone. My daughter especially. She and I are very close. As for my kids potentially being somehow scarred because being a mother was, at times, pure hell..........somehow I doubt it. The very idea makes me chuckle. Most kids are selfish in that, they are not focused on what their parents are struggling with. They are focused on whatever is important to them. If their friend is mad at them, if that cute boy likes them, if they can have the expensive Air Jordan sneakers they really want, etc etc etc....... I am pretty sure neither of my kids have any issues of the sort you seem so determined to be in horror of. Basically my story is similar to LaTigresse's. I was married at 18. I had a child 9 months later. We were married, we had sex. I got pregnant. Thankfully he wanted children. I wasn't so keen but well...it happens. At that point I knew I wasn't going to be going to college or working in the type of career I had hoped to go into or do the things I always wanted to do (which I'm now finally getting the chance to do without her). I had my tubes tied a year after my husband died. I was 24. The doc didn't want to but I finally convinced him. There is not one day that goes by where I regret it. Yeah, me and my daughter have our issues. There are times she hates my guts. There are times when I just want to be as far away from her as possible or I will feel like giving her a good slap upside the head! But all in all, she knows I love her and even though she doesn't say it, I know she loves me even though she thinks I'm crazy and old fashioned and lame. As Latigresse said, she really doesn't spend much time even thinking about mom or our issues or love for each other. She's too busy going to school, working, taking care of her own house, spending time with her live in boyfriend, their friends, taking care of her pets, etc....
|
|
|
|