spikestress said, Do you, as a mother, think less of women who have no children?Recently I was told by a co-worker who is a parent that I was not as 'worthy' of time off because I have no kids. It got me to wondering; do all parents secretly feel like this?
Absolutely, positively 100% not.
I can't speak for all mothers, but honestly, I think this kind of thinking borders on imbecilic. I realize there are cultures out there where a woman's worth is based solely on her ability to conceive, but I don't live in one. I'm glad I don't. If I lived in a society where everything I did was discounted simply because I didn't have children, I'd be a hermit because I couldn't stand that sort of hypocrisy. Some people can't have children. Some don't want them. Others would make lousy parents or have lifestyles not conducive to children. I don't really care what the reason is. We don't live in a society where we're in danger of going extinct because of propagation issues, and to force that sort of medieval thinking onto a modern sensibility just doesn't make sense to me.
Life is about choices. What we need to do is respect others for the choices they make. As long as you're not hurting anybody, Jane Doe shouldn't give two figs what your choice is.
In this kind of situation, it would be the same as equal work demands equal pay. If you've earned your time off, what should it matter what you use it for? Or if you have an emergency that requires it. Either way, the time off is yours. If anything, I'd think that the parent who said that to you is probably jealous you're not tied down to kid stuff. Because *that* I'll cop to. Every once in a while, I get jealous of those who don't have the commitments, who can pick up and do stuff at a moment's notice because they don't have anybody to answer to but themselves. Then I just remind myself I'll have that time back again once the kids are older and I'll be wishing they're around, lol.
