Since decades back, in the United States a traditional family consists of a married man and woman with a handful of children. In this home, the husband’s role is to have a career and provide for the family, while the wife’s is to stay home and raise the children. This family dynamic, not only sounds dissatisfying to me, but terrifying.
The first reason this situation is not fit for me is because I will never be able to sit on my hands and be the stay-at-home mom. To all women who currently are or want to be stay-at-home moms, I applaud you, because it is an extremely difficult job being selfless and on your toes all the time. This is something I just cannot do. I am currently attending university to get my bachelor’s degree in chemical engineering. I am also paying a large sum of money to get this education, so I intend to use it to its full extent. I am passionate about the field I am studying and cannot wait to start applying my education to the work force and make a difference. My future career and goal to financially support myself is what is motivating me to go to college, and I would not be satisfied giving up those goals to stay home and raise children. I am also a person who likes to be continuously learning and moving. I believe that a work environment is better suited for this lifestyle than staying in a home for a majority of the day.
The second reason you will never catch me as a stay-at-home mom is simply because kids terrify me, especially babies. The idea of being fully responsible for a child is extremely scary. It baffles me how a living thing can be that small and helpless. As a stay-at-home mother, you are in charge of caring for that child alone for a majority of the day. A baby is so fragile and so many things can go wrong, being around the little peanut all day, I would constantly be worried that I would mess up. Even when you are out of the infant phase, you still have a huge role in taking care of the child. As the main influencer of the child you are responsible to teach the child how to treat others, take care of oneself, value education, behave with authority, and so much more. As a stay-at-home mom you are personally responsible to set the child’s moral compass, which is a responsibly I do not know if I will ever be able to handle.
Does this mean that I am completely opposed to having children? Not necessarily, however, at this time in my life and for the foreseeable future, my career is my priority. Some people have this metaphorical “mom gene”, which basically means that you are very responsible and caring. Generally when people use this term it means that you have what it takes to be a mother. By not wanting to be a stay-at-home mom, does this mean I do not possess the mom gene? Not even in the slightest. In fact, if you ask my friends, a majority will tell you quite the opposite, and that I am often the mom of the group. Some females’ goal in life to be a stay at home mom, which is fantastic and I am equally impressed by and respect them as much as female who are career driven. But at the same time many millennials are challenging the idea of this traditional family and the norms by not having offspring, being in same sex couples, living in homes led by career driven females, and stay-at-home dads. With all this being considered, I am one of those millennials, and I am not going to let the idea of a traditional family define my future.
