The Women in Our Lives

by Heather Long | More from this Blogger

23 Dec 2006 03:54 PM

We often look back on previous years and generations with a sense of longing and regret, because what is the present day is not the same as then and we all feel it. But no where do we feel it more keenly than in the area of raising our children. Where once when a baby was born, the women of the family converged to provide support for the mom - too often we are far away from our mothers, mothers-in-law, sisters, cousins, sisters-in-law, aunts and more. Too often we are alone when it comes to those long hours in the middle of the night and the exhaustion creeps in.

The Women in Our Lives

I bring this up because as a child, my grandmother was a formidable part of my life and in my daughter's life, my mother and my mother-in-law are very much a part of her life, but as an infant, we lived in another state and it made my life harder to have this support structure so far away.

The women in our lives are necessary for our children and for us, as well. As new mothers, second time or third time mothers - we need these women because they bring to us the wisdom of their experience and the support of their presence. It's altogether too rare with how far away we are from each other and we forget that when a new mother has a baby, she needs all the help she can get.

Dads Need These Women Too

Mothers are not the only ones who benefit from the women in our lives. Dads do as well. New fathers are just as at a loss as new mothers when it comes to providing the emotional and mental support. Sometimes we forget that new dads can be as out of their depth as new mothers might be. The women in our lives from his mother to your mother to other female relatives can be a gold mine of information and support.

My husband often says when he wants to find the perfect gift of jewelry he calls his mother for her advice. When he isn't sure about what he could be doing to help out more, he starts by asking me, but he's not above getting advice from the other women in his life.

Moms need more help and by extension, so do dads. We need more female relatives and women in our families in our lives, regularly and as a part of our lives. We need these women and not to leave anyone out, check out the next piece on the fact that we need the men in our lives as well.

How much have the women in your life helped you and your baby?

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Learn more about Heather Long

Heather Long is 35 years old and currently lives in Wylie, Texas. She has been a freelance writer for six years. Her husband and she met while working together at America Online over ten years ago.

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