“My mother was a single working mother; she started having children very young. There was a tension inside her about who she wanted to be and what she wanted to do and how she couldn’t achieve the things she wanted to.” ChildrenWantedYoungMotherAchieveTensionHaving Children Author:Natalie Merchant
“More than any other personality trait, my mother seemed to be ruled by anger and sadness. She seemed to hate being a mother. Watching her unhappiness as I grew up made me conclude that the answer was to try and be as unemotional as I could, which many therapists have taught me is a bad idea. It also made me want to avoid marriage and having children.” WantTryingChildrenMadeIdeasMotherHateAnswersSadnessTaughtGrewPersonalityGrew UpUnhappinessTraitsTherapistsBeing A MotherBad IdeasHaving ChildrenPersonality TraitsUnemotional Author:Merrill Markoe
“It's useful to know how much society's holding you back. My mother would talk about how she was told by the head of her art school that she was the best painter, but that she wouldn't get the biggest prize because she would waste her talent by having children. I think we have to get honest with girls about how they can expect the world to block them, and we have to prepare girls, and ourselves, to break through those blocks.” ThinkingKnowsWorldChildrenArtSchoolMotherGirlBreakKnow HowHonestTalentWasteBlockPainterPrizeBreak ThroughArt SchoolHaving Children Author:Erica Jong
“Having children can smooth the relationship, too. Mother and daughter are now equals. That is hard to imagine, even harder to accept, for among other things, it means realizing that your own mother felt this way, too--unsure of herself, weak in the knees, terrified about what in the world to do with you. It means accepting that she was tired, inept, sometimes stupid; that she, too, sat in the dark at 2:00 A.M. with a child shrieking across the hall and no clue to the child's trouble.” WorldWayMeanChildrenSometimesHardMotherFeltRealizingDarkAcceptingImagineTroubleStupidDaughterWeakHarderTiredKneesSatHallsSmoothTerrifiedClueMother And DaughterHaving ChildrenUnsureWeak In The Knees Book:Living Out Loud Source: Living Out Loud