I know a woman who has two children and feels guilty because she wants a third. She feels guilty because she lives in the world of academia and thinks she is being too primitive or something in wanting to simply mother children as opposed to being a capitalistic force with which to reckon.

I know a woman who has five children and feels her place is in the home. Her husband likes to spend more money than they have, so she recently became an employee at a place she likes. She doesn't feel her children are getting the care and attention they deserve and so she and her husband argue.

I know a woman who has four children. She thinks it's disgusting for an older woman with children to get into a relationship with a younger man. She says she'd be extremely angry if one of her sons "raised some other man's kids." All of her children were born out of wedlock. Her lover is the father of her youngest child and they've been together almost 20 years now...since her sons were toddlers.

I know a woman who had two children, got divorced, then remarried. She often seemed to wish she didn't have the children from the first marriage. She often seemed to wish she could have started over without all the baggage. She sometimes said things to the oldest child that implied the child should be grateful she was allowed to stay with the "good" husband.

I know a woman. She lives with unnecessary pain. And, some say, "What is life without suffering?" And, I say, "Suffering is a choice and it seems you've chosen to allow us as many opportunities to suffer as possible."

I just want to cut down on the opportunities. That's all.