So I decided to call this blog "we're not in Kansas anymore," because the people who lived in Kansas, or any state in the union a hundred years ago, would not recognize that state today. Not just because of "improved" irrigation, invasive species that have moved in and been purposefully moved in, because buildings look different and so forth, but also because towns and cities have grown so much, and in a short amount of time. Suburbian sprawl is a term that was coined in the eighties; just as the kids of the baby boom where buying their first houses and having babies of their own. Now my generation, the grandkids of the baby boom (some of us may be kids of the baby boomers,) are having babies. So how many baby booms does that make? They say the world population will be 7.8 billion by 2050...this is going to change things dramatically. For one thing, the chance of subsequent serendipidious meetings with people will go way down. I find this very sad; I look for meaning in the serendipidous. Also, if food and fresh water is hard for many people in the world to come by now, imagine how hard it is going to be by 2050. Imagine what sort of food we might be sustaining ourselves on, just so all 7.8 billion of us can eat (an unlikely scenario, since class stratification is likely to increase, not decrease.) Image what other sentient beings on this planet might have to do to survive, since they will be competing with all of those humans for resources. Just image the greed and corruption and competition the people will go through to survive when you've got that many people on the planet.
So I've been thinking lately that I might chose to never have children of my own; let me tell you, everytime I think like that, I feel a deep sadness in my heart; however, I know a lot of this sadness has to do with the culture constantly telling me that part of being a female is eventually baring children, and I don't think it has to be that way...especially as we wake up to the horror that we are unleashing on Sweet Momma Gaia...
Anyway, the more I think about it, the more I realize that my only reasons for having kids are selfish ones and I will probably be a better midwife without them. For one thing, I've heard midwives say that after they gave birth they based people's births on what happened to them during theirs, and I don't want to do that. Also I think I'll be busy enough practicing midwifery and being a birth activitist, to the point where I doubt I'll have time to be a good mother. I believe good mothering takes 98% of your time, and I simply won't have that time.
Anyway, if you haven't had kids yourself yet, now is the time to consider wiether or not this will be a good idea for you. Having children is not one of the criteria of reaching adulthood, as I was taught to believe. I now believe only people who are conciously ready for kids, who have weighted everything in their minds, who are prepaired to be "stay at home parents," (not that they actually will have to be a stay at home parent, but are they prepaired to put that much effort into parenting,) who are prepaired to give up parties, romantic time alone or with a partner, their own bodies, boobs, ect, should be parents. I for one, can't really see myself giving all of this up.
I love watching other people's kids and might be content to help other mothers give birth.
Love,
Sycamore Fitch
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