THOUGH a working mother of two, I and my family do not have a
maid but we are lucky to have parents who help mind our children
and cook for us.
When my husband and I reach home around 8.30 every night, we
take one child each and check their schoolwork or read to them.
When they go to bed at 10pm, we do the household chores and wash
up, which take about half an hour.
Sometimes, we continue with work we had to take home but if we
are spared that, we have some downtime for ourselves. By the time
we hit the sack around midnight, we are exhausted.
The routine may seem predictably easy but the little time we
spend with our children is stressful because they are active and
individualistic. Imposing or inculcating discipline takes a toll on
us and we are often tired from lack of sleep, or good sleep.
So, when I was expecting for the third time two years ago, we
made a very hard decision to terminate the pregnancy. We just did
not have the energy to cope with a third because the first two had
taken up all the energy we had.
So far, we have had six years of interrupted sleep and we are
not prepared for more.
Finance was also a big consideration as I was almost out of a
job then. If I had seen through the pregnancy, I would not have
been able to get another job. Relying on a single income was simply
too tough because we had to care for our parents as well.
Having two children was more than we could manage and having two
more was just too much. Yes, my third pregnancy involved twins. The
decision not to have them was doubly difficult.
Wendy Tan (Ms)