Women roles and tolls

There's a secret underlying stereotype that women should always stay home to take care of the children.

I agree, to an extent.

God has created man and woman to take care of each other, and has set guidelines and duties upon each. He created us different, giving us roles and requiring us to take them on. Men are the head of the household while women are primary care givers.

Certainly.

There's more.

If it were that simple for women to stay home and take care of their children, well might as well lock yourself up in your house (or room) and do everything for them right? Wrong.

I've been picking up on a couple of things. Such as, I wasn't able to cut my son's fingernails without getting myself into a little trouble. I needed help from an experienced mother, my sister-in-law.

Attempt to take care of kid by myself: fail.

Or like the times you need to take a shower or use the bathroom, you'll need someone to "keep an eye" on the baby.

I have an exam to turn in before tomorrow night. After getting some house chores I went to pray zuhr, the second daily prayer and the baby started crying because he was hungry.

Feed child or pray? Both.

His grandmother offered to feed him while I prayed, giving up her lunch time to do so.

Lesson learned: it's not always easy to ask for help, or to take it when it's avaliable. Don't take things for granted but use your resources.

Although there's a stereotype to stay home all the time, women know they need some space to breathe, they need to see other mothers make it through, they need help once in a while and will also have ambitions of their own to pursue.

I was speaking to a woman today who's daughter-in-law is soon to come from Bangladesh. My aunt and I asked if she'd be continuing her studies. She said, "Oh we'll see, you never know how they'll be until after they get here," implying her daughter-in-law might be stuck up and not take care of her in-laws.

Also she is hoping for a grandchild prior to any further education. The daughter-in-law is(was) 2 years away from completing her law degree in Bangladesh. They told her to stop going to school. Her schooling would be practically worthless here.

Sad, but true.

I encouraged the woman to let her attend school, if her daughter-in-law wants. We'll see what happens.

The lady also asked if I was going to school and if my in-laws were alright with that. I said yes, and I told them how important my education was to me before getting married.

Culture.

In Islam women are allowed to take jobs out of the home, if they are able to manage both their home and outside life. The only major restrictions are not to do jobs that contradict their faith, family, religion, and not to take on jobs that are the head of the government (over stressful jobs), like being president of a country.

Islam also encourages women to stay educated and continue their education, even requiring her husband to get her books if she can't leave the household. Why? Because if you aren't educated, how will you educate your children and family? The women are the backbone of the family, however they need support to be just that.

Once again, religion to the rescue.