Better a mother than a laborer

Bear with me; disparate elements come together nicely.


American children go to schools under the pretense we will one day be able to perform a job better or have a preferred career.

In the course of pregnancy a mother is burdened by nausea, additional weight, swelling feet and contractions. A baby relies on his mother's milk for food a time. Because a mother's body carries and nurses her child she is better suited than the babe's father to keep watch over their offspring. During her pregnancy and subsequent recovery (regaining lost health) a mother is worse suited for farming or other forms of toil than her husband. Unhindered by pregnancy or a suckling baby he is better suited to perform labors so his wife has the food, pillows, and whatever else she needs to maintain her and the baby's health.

A woman who becomes a mother will be handicapped in exertions because of her pregnancy and the care her baby requires of her. A woman who has prepared for years to have some occupation will waste her preparation if she is incapacitated by motherhood so that her work is caused to cease. Therein: incentive against starting a family. Yet the life of a man is worth more than works and descendants can honor their parents more than parent's own hands. It is better for a woman to be prepared for motherhood (more prosperous than career) than for her to be prepared for labor.