The pressures of starting a family

South Transcona

After reading the recent article by Gregory Mason in the Free Press touching on young people starting out in the world and the topic of children, it prompted a reaction I had to chime in on.

Education is one of the most important privileges we have in this country that can aid in shaping a person’s future, thus creating a path for good jobs and opportunities to live the dream of either surviving in this all expensive world or maybe someday owning a car, home, etc. Some young women are delaying the start of a family not only because they are continuing their education or establishing their careers, but for other important reasons. Women are becoming wise to the fact that in the past they were expected to give up their jobs or careers and become the main caregiver to the children while the partner kept on their career path as usual. In some cases, women have to start all over again at an older age because of various family breakdowns. The task of caring for the children and refreshing their education at the same time is a daunting endeavor.

Women can lose their jobs because of pregnancy, they can be ridiculed in the workplace for becoming pregnant. They may get set back in the workplace once returning from maternity leave. Finding a daycare is a nightmare. Sometimes getting kids to and from school is a challenge. When the children are sick, it’s mainly the mother who misses work to tend to them. The workload at home is mainly picked up by the mother. In fact, most things involving the children are. In some cases, the time spent child rearing, providing lesser or no financial contribution and generally just being the main caregiver are ridiculed by the partner as never being good enough. Unless there is the perfect partner who is willing to really understand the dynamics of a family, why would women ever want to enter into motherhood?

Most of us — specifically females — are all hoping current and future generations will shift into a truly equal family dynamic to make the experience of having children joyful for all. Families are not the same as the old days, and the phrase “the good old days” can seriously die forever. That joke is not funny and never was. Hopefully, the human species is evolving enough to allow all families the experience of enjoying what the feel good movies portray, thus eliminating all family dysfunction going forward.