On the Difficulties of Parenthood, as a 22 Year Old with No Children
When most people my age talk about motherhood, they are either complaining about their own mothers or expressing the means to which they go to ensure that they don’t soon become mothers. If they are talking about their own experiences as mothers, it’s in reference to brand-new babies, who they can dress up in cute Halloween costumes and show off in adorable Instagram posts. They rarely talk about what it’s like to raise a twelve-year-old seventh grader, unless of course they’re in conversation with me. To be clear, the seventh grader in question is my younger sister, and I am not raising her on my own. Though they joke about being hands-off with their third child, my parents are very much so involved in my sister’s life. My mom still has a mini-van so she can cart around gaggles of girls to their favorite store, Ulta Beauty, and my dad is still the assistant coach of the church basketball team. However, since moving back home after graduating college, I find