Single & Childless Women Are Tired of Justifying Their Existence
We have enough problems without having to constantly explain ourselves
“You should be a mother,” my six-year-old niece Keira said to me during a summer visit.
I assumed she meant that she found me maternal. As someone who is childless-by-circumstance, I am hesitant to attach virtue to motherhood; nevertheless, I smiled and said, “Thank you,” in a tone that made the statement sound like a question.
“No, not thank you,” she said, immediately, scolding me. “I didn’t mean it like that. I’m telling you to fix it. It’s not normal that you don’t have children.”
My heart sank. I have had countless conversations like this with Keira and her eight-year-old sister, Brynn.
Brynn has whispered to me several times over the years in a hushed, sorrowful tone, that I must be so sad that I don’t have a husband or babies like her mother (my sister) does. “You must be so lonely,” she’s said.
They’ve asked me over and over when I’m finally going to get married or “be like other women and have babies.” And yes, they’ve said before that I need to “fix” myself and my life because the way I live isn’t normal.
