When We Grow Up

I was talking to a friend (who happens to also be named Katie) that I knew when I was 7. We were in the same homeschool small group. We knew each other then, and reconnected lately. Tonight we were talking about something that has got me thinking.

We were both products of homeschooling, stay at home moms who stressed to us the need to be stay at home moms, but who also encouraged us to follow our dreams in school. We were talking about how our generation, as a whole, is in a dilemma right now. 

Our parents generation was basically a backlash against the hippy's sixities era. They focused on lots of work, and making money. Now our generation seems to be making a backlash against that idea. We are trying to figure out who we are and what we will do. Will we focus on money, as our parents tended to do, or will we focus more on things less easy to quantify? 

It seems we are more and more trying to figure out our own way. Compared to our parents, many more mothers are staying home with their children, foregoing a career to stay home. My generation has a huge focus on serving others and helping those less fortunate. We are, however, a very selfish generation. We are a generation trying to figure out what we want to do when we grow up.

This dilemma is very recognizable in girls like Katie and I. We were both raised by wonderful women who put their lives into homeschooling and raising a family. Our friends were, for a large part, other homeschooling children. We had wonderful examples of woman as wife and mother. We are also encouraged to follow our dreams. Some of us go to college and gain an education. Some of us intern and work. Some of us are involved in ministry. Some of us are preparing to follow our dreams as a homemaker.

So what will we do? Many of us really want to home-school our children, and follow in our mother's footsteps. Many of us can't wait to be wives and mothers. We have that yearning to follow in our mother's footsteps. Many of us, however, are also pursuing other interests. So what do we do? The generation of our parents, which most of our mother's went against, was greatly for a working mother. Our generation is more encouraging of stay at homes, and there are far more resources to help us home-school. But we are also putting all this time into our education, and wanting to change the world.

I am not saying that being a wife and mother is somehow less lofty than a career, or ministry. I believe that they are all lofty goals that God can call you too. As you know, I am a wife, and I can't wait to be a mother. But my generation, especially those of us that grew up home-schooled or with stay at home mothers are working through this.

If we do home-school, how will we do it? Our parents had a very strict idea of homeschooling. Many times it meant a home-school family looked, acted and learned a certain way. Home-schooling was diverse, but now it is so much more so. There is so much opportunity for home-school. I think that my generation also backlashed against the idea of "the perfect home-school family". After growing up, we had enough and realized we wanted something more. But what is that something more? Can we home-school? How will we home-school?

Some girls I know are totally going the opposite way. They want a career. They want to be different than their mothers. While others I know can't wait to be like their mother. So what will the girls of my generation choose? And if we do home-school how will we do? Will we be different than our mother's? When will we figure things out? 

What will we do when we grow up?