I am terribly sick and tired of the narrative that quietness is a sign of weakness. Especially from the culture where I come from, you are implicitly banished from high aspirations and posts if you are "quiet".
But ironically, during my school days, my voice came in a different form: it was through writing. Even at a very young age, I already had strong writing skills that made me a consistent member of the school paper. Becoming an editor-in-chief in my university days will always be the cherry on top of my cake. Getting a career as a writer right after didn't come as a surprise for my friends and family who truly knew me.
Having said that, the worldy views have never been changed. And the narrative even becomes even stronger now. At 39 years old, it remains the same for me.
"You must learn how to fight."
"You must be loud."
And for what? The world itself is noisy enough.
Ironically, as a mother, I have learned to channel my voice in a different way: I became a stay at home mother. Oh isn't that the worst rebelliious stand against feminism and woman empowerment?
But deep inside, this is me standing up and fighting against a world that is broken, a world that forces mother to work right after birth and proclaims it as "professionalism", a world that trashes babies and calling it my body, my rules.
I truly believe that God loves us and He never designed motherhood this way. Socialism and feminism did.
We are fearmongered to think that we if don't aim for a career, we are not contributing to the society or building our future funds.
We are fearmongered to feel that we will never be enough for our own children and so we are forced to delegate their care into strangers we do not even know while we work to our bones to make money and if you're lucky, you might have a quality time for your children from 6pm-8pm each day and squeeze laundry on weekends.
So what are we to do, mother who unfortunately lived to see this day?
Choose your children. All the time.
No matter what the cost. No matter the sacrifice. No matter what the world say.
Being a simple housewife is a quite rebellion to a rising empire that perverts and corrupts the real vocation of women and mothers.
I am not saying it will be easy.
What I can say is this: Investing in our children will always be worth all time, all the sacrifice, even our own sanity!
What I can say is this: Pray the Rosary everyday to gain the wisdom and strength to turn FULL ON your motherly instinct.
Oh so easy for you to say that. Your husband earns a lot!
Money. It remains the ultimate obstacle to achieveing "true success and happiness" as a mother, don't you think?
Dear daughter, if you truly wish to seek true success and happiness as a mother, do not measure it by money. There are many ways to earn and save money, but it truly depends on each family's circumstance. And you might have a few tricks on your seleve. What I can say, I say only through my own experience is this: learn to build a business, or get a part-time job if you have a village to watch your children for a few days on the weekdays, or extremely save money and never spend on unimportant things.
I have navigated motherhood for ten years now and I have a learned a few lessons, and I know that I have yet more to learn. But if I can summarise it in simple terms, I would say: Your children will always be your greatest investment and achievement in life.
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