The women were already tired. Then 2022 came



Honestly, 2022 is handling me, and it’s not handling me well. I’m as fragile as a piece of fine china. I’m cracked, broken and tired. I have the awful feeling that there is no help in sight. I am a teacher, parent of two children (ages 6 and 3), wife, daughter of older parents, and deeply in debt. I have always been the head of my family. I run the show. Everything: household chores, finances, appointments, activities, errands — everything.

My spouse works and can come home and “fix things” and do whatever he wants. He grew up with traditional gender roles, and it was hard to break those scholarly views of women. This year he is trying to understand that I can’t do everything, but I feel like men don’t know how to realize that the load is uneven. I feel like I’m working my butt and it’s invisible.

At school, we are understaffed and the children are completely lost. When I get home, I try to keep the chaos organized. I go to bed exhausted every night. I feel like my life is a tornado and I’m just glad I can hit the ground once in a while.

I’m more forgetful these days, which I normally am not. Working mothers have 15,000 open tabs. Your computer sometimes starts to slow down. I had so many tabs open for so long that the processing speed is slowing down.

Ten years ago, I had three jobs and we bought a condo. I’ve paved our way financially and socially ever since. In 2014 we needed IVF assistance to have children and even though I knew I was not the problem, I had to endure a year of horrific tests. But I wouldn’t have my beautiful children without it. As an IVF mom, I am heartbroken by Roe’s knockdown. When should men worry about their reproductive rights? Men should have a vasectomy if women cannot abort. The United States is collapsing.