All Citations

I read a lovely and wise account of a discussion between a mother and her daughter. The daughter, a professional woman, asks half-joking, whether her mother thinks she should have a baby. Her mother recounts her response as follows: “It will change your life,” I say, carefully keeping my tone neutral.
“But that is not what I meant at all. I look at my daughter, trying to decide what to tell her. I want her to know what she will never learn in childbirth classes. I want to tell her that the physical wounds of childbearing will heal, but that becoming a mother will leave her with an emotional wound so raw that she will forever be vulnerable.”I consider warning her that she will never again read a newspaper without asking, “What if that had been MY child?’ That every plane crash, every house fire will haunt her. That when she sees pictures of starving children, she will wonder if anything could be worse than watching your child die.I wish my daughter could sense the bond she will feel with women throughout history who have tried to stop war, and prejudice and drunk driving. . . . I hope she will understand why I can think rationally about most issues, but become temporarily insane when I discuss the threat of nuclear war to my children’s future.”