Article About Feminist Lies

>Since mothering is no longer revered or understood to be something a woman would want to do, let alone should do, women are surprised to discover how heart-wrenching it is to leave their babies and return to work. They’re surprised to discover that work isn’t nearly as satisfying as they were led to believe.

This was my experience 100%. I never wanted children. I got pregnant by accident at 31 and decided "if not now, when?" Surprise, surprise - going back to work was awful and I hated it. And, I found myself wishing I hadn't waited until 31 to get pregnant, and that I'd had more time to have more babies and a bigger family. Most of all, I found myself wishing *gasp!!* that I could be a SAHM. (The horror!)

My own mother is an amazing powerhouse of a woman, but admittedly isn't very "motherly" in many ways, so while she set a wonderful example for us (raising 3 kids while also working and being well respected in her field and pursuing her own hobbies and interests), she also suffered from burnout. As a teenager witnessing this, the take-home message, in my mind, was Having a family is going to interfere with all the important things you want to do with your life. My mother didn't say that, but she also didn't tell me the opposite. From my perspective, family stuff was boring and my mom's job and interests seemed way cooler and more rewarding than the time she spent cooking, for example. She never complained, but I was in full teenage rebellion mode and thought that all family stuff was so lame (of course), so I assumed she felt the same. (Spoiler alert, she didn't., but she couldn't afford to be a SAHM for financial reasons.)

I wish I had had a variety of female role models who could show me that not only was it okay to be a SAHM and a nurturer, but that it could in itself be satisfying and more important in some ways than putting a career first. I think back to those years before the Pinterest and blogger moms made being a homemaker cool and hip again, and I wish that I had been at the right age to receive that message. I might not have done things differently, but I may have felt differently about my choices.

*Edit: formatting