My generations parents.

I guess you can say I am super attached to my son, very protective over him. I am very picky about where he is and who he is with. In fact he is 18 months and now has had an over nighter twice, once with his grandmother and now once with his grandpa, both times I was on edge, I know I am a young mom (nearly 25) and I have some fear of judgement that people will think I pawn my child off on my family members whenever I get the chance. To avoid the usual reputaion my generation of mothers has received I refuse to let anyone watch my child just to go out. With that said my husband and myself rarely get time to ourselves, and he always says we can get a sitter, but he doesn't understand the reason I don't want to do that. I see far to many people my age who just constantly burden their family with only selfish intentions at bay. I must say currently my sister in law does watch my son through the week while both my husband and myself are at work, and I pay her a respectable rate comparable to a facility for childcare, so yes I do have help from my family, however on my days off my son is all mine and i want to spend every minute with him. The problem lies with my friends who also have small children, why don't they understand why I will not go out on a Friday night? They say "just call your mom, she will watch him while your out" or "doesn't your sister inlaw watch him during the day, just ask her to keep him over night" I just don't get it. My 2 days off a week are also my sister in laws and I'm sure she likes to have them. I feel like my generation of mothers lacks respect for their own mothers, even my older sister calls my mom up all the time, and while our mother loves her grand babies she still have small children at home to take care of (youngest is 7). I question if I am the only woman my age who thought through having a child and what that meant for my social life. I was willing and ready to give that up, and love every second I get to spend with my son, isn't that how it should be, any extracurricular things I'm involved in are for him, like story time at the library, or going to the park, going on bike rides, visiting the zoo, or just the pet store, I make sure what ever we are doing he is learning something. Where are the other mothers like me. Even my closest friend in alaska, whom I had a falling out with planned to have her mother watch her baby once born at no cost to her. What is so different with our generation??  I just don't get it. Yes babies are cute and fun and full of life but with all that greatness comes a responsibility that must be met with open arms, prepared to make sacrifices and willing to change your lifestlye to best suit the needs of your child and your family. I just know once I am older and want to enjoy my retirement life with my husband I don't want a 9 to 5 with my grand babies with no pay, and I have a feeling much of my parents generation feels the same way.

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