I have to be honest. Sometimes, and only sometimes, when I think that I am nobody's mom and never will be, I feel weird. I feel like I am doing something I am not supposed to be doing. For the longest time, I looked at it as rebelling against what was expected from me as a woman and, more importantly, as a Middle Eastern woman. You see, in our beloved culture, getting married and becoming a mom is an undeniable part of women's identity in society. So much so that if you say, "I have chosen not to have kids," people will assume you "can't" have kids and that is how you are consoling yourself. I had an aunt - may she rest in peace - who for the first 6 months after my wedding, would call me and ask: "Are you pregnant yet?" I am not even exaggerating. After 6 months, she started saying things like, "Well, you have to get a grip! The clock is ticking here, child." And I was only 24. She passed away a couple of years after I got married, and I can only imagine how much sorrow she would have felt for me if she could see me now, still childless, 15 years later.
Nobody's Mommy
Nobody's Mommy
Nobody's Mommy
I have to be honest. Sometimes, and only sometimes, when I think that I am nobody's mom and never will be, I feel weird. I feel like I am doing something I am not supposed to be doing. For the longest time, I looked at it as rebelling against what was expected from me as a woman and, more importantly, as a Middle Eastern woman. You see, in our beloved culture, getting married and becoming a mom is an undeniable part of women's identity in society. So much so that if you say, "I have chosen not to have kids," people will assume you "can't" have kids and that is how you are consoling yourself. I had an aunt - may she rest in peace - who for the first 6 months after my wedding, would call me and ask: "Are you pregnant yet?" I am not even exaggerating. After 6 months, she started saying things like, "Well, you have to get a grip! The clock is ticking here, child." And I was only 24. She passed away a couple of years after I got married, and I can only imagine how much sorrow she would have felt for me if she could see me now, still childless, 15 years later.