"Save our Childhood!" or How Our Workaholism Affects Our Children
"My
mother has a difficult job, and although she likes it overall, she works late,
and after a day's work she doesn't even have the strength for a simple
conversation with me," a six-year-old girl told me one time. She then
added in a sad voice: "I would be happy if my mother stayed at home,
waited for her husband, cooked delicious meals and spent more time with me.
Instead my parents are so passionate about work that they do not care about
anything else, not even me ... "
People
say that our day and age has two faults: irresponsibility and workaholism. The
first one can not be persuaded, the second does not have a brake pedal. And
it's hard not to agree with this. Workaholics always work and find a way to do
it everywhere: on vacation, on the road, during dinner, and even while raising
children( or so they think). Workaholics piously believe that by devoting 20
hours a day to work they can fill a spiritual void. They want to earn as much
money as possible and sometimes are not able to do something other than work or
switch off. Everything around them is work, work, work...
Young
mothers today hurry to get out of maternity leave in order to avoid everyday
chores which includes daily cleaning, changing diapers or cooking food. Society
seems to believe that "staying" with a child does not help a woman
develop in any way, that there is nothing to talk about with her, except except
for maybe child nutrition. But how wrong are those who say so! Educating a
young human being is the most productive and creative time of all: it is an
encounter with a new personality who begins to absorb everything the world has
to offer, it is the time of daily discoveries. And the role of the housewife
and beloved mother is a unique time in a person's life that may never come
again, because children grow up very quickly.
Yes, the
Lord did leave a commandment to Adam and all men that “by the sweat of your
face you shall eat bread”(Genesis 3:19), but we don't hear the same about
women, instead we hear a commandment about childbirth, about children...
Workaholism,
like laziness, are two opposing extremes that come from one place - sin. In part
this is the legacy of the Soviet past, when being overly passionate at work was
welcomed. But I ask you today, dear mothers and fathers, do not become
infected!
Just
Imagine what will happen when you stop your work, disappear from the face of
the earth, someone else will come to replace you - the earth will still be
spinning ... But what will remain after you? A pile of insensitive metal, a
stack of colored waste paper or just a total void?
On the
other hand you could have children with happy memories who recall a wonderful
childhood,adolescence, youth...
PS: The little girl that was quoted in the
beginning of this article already turned eighteen. Seriously lacking parental
love as a child, she continues on in life, but is forced to do so with great difficulty
... She wishes that when she has her own family and children, she will
certainly become a caring mother who will not only see and know how her
children are growing up , but also be an integral part of their world and make
sure it is full of love.
June 26, 2018
By Olga Aleksandrova
