My coworker is due
on October 26th.
She is 24, and barely
scrapes by to provide for
her already growing family.
She is expecting her second child:
a boy.
Two years ago, this frightened,
then 22 year old girl, barely out of
college, gave birth to a precious baby
girl.
Now, she is expecting a little boy, and
her two year old daughter cannot be
more excited to become a big sister.
She is eight and a half months pregnant
and already knows what she will
name her little boy:
Aiden James, or, AJ, for short.
Her daughter picked out the name.
Recently reflecting on how her daughter’s birth went,
she said within those first few days,
she will be back, hard at work.
Now, while this may seem common,
there is already a large,
glaring problem with this situation.
No, it is not her age.
The problem here just so happens to be
America.
This problem is a recurring, harsh reality
that many single, American mothers find
themselves face-to-face with:
money, and supporting their family.
Family is supposed to come first,
right?
Well, if that is true, then why
is it that mothers are not able to
afford more than a few days off of work
after the delivery of their precious children to
spend time and recuperate with them?
Not only to relax or recuperate, but to heal themselves,
and strengthen their bond between them and their
children.
For what is more important than
the bond between mother
and child?
Nothing.
In America, mothers cannot risk taking
a mere week off of work because they
need money.
They need money for food,
diapers,
clothing,
to pay the bills,
to pay for gas money,
etc.
America is supposed to be the land of the
free.
But instead, the government has its thumb on all our
pulses, and their fingers
down our throats.