I've never understood the love affair people have with children. Childhood is just a stage of life; it should be made as carefree as possible but not entirely so, because how else will you learn to withstand adversity? Love is not enough to be a good parent, it also takes money and lots of time.
When you grow up the child of a single mother, watching her frustration as she fought to earn enough money to put food on the table or a roof over your head; when she never had any extra money so you could take advantage of opportunities that would probably benefit you later in life, such as extra tutoring for a subject you didn't quite understand or one you were very interested in but they didn't offer at your school; or money to buy new clothes instead of having to wear ill-fitting hand me downs until they were threadbare........always having to hear, "No, we can't afford it. No, we don't have the money. No, not now; maybe for your birthday or Christmas.....".
When you spend years watching your mother having to do without things that she wants because every spare cent goes to paying past due bills or fixing a car that is long past fixing; when you're too embarrassed to invite your friends over because your mom can't afford to feed them too or you're too embarrassed for them to see where you live. My Mom was wonderful and did the best she could for me, but I could see how she struggled.
When you live your life thinking that you're never good enough, that nothing you ever do is right; that you're selfish for not wanting the responsibility of having children because truthfully, you're too mentally ill to be a good parent and you're smart enough to recognize that fact; that you must think you're "getting above your raising" for wanting to travel and have a few nice things, things that won't immediately break or fall apart because they're not good quality. If that makes me selfish, then selfish I am, with no apologies.
Now Roe v. Wade has been repealed, a fact that fills me with fear for my younger sisters in their childbearing years. We're going to have to go through the "Women's Lib" protest all over again. The government has determined that women are not reasonable or intelligent enough to dictate what happens with our bodies. They tell us that the only thing we're good for is being mothers and maids. Bullshit.
This country is regressing.
