SQJ Taipei

I wish I had more time to write about this… it saddens me so…

WEBLINK —> Mothers In Taiwan Are Overburdened

According to the survey results…

7 out of every 100 mothers of 4-12 year olds that I see have considered suicide as a way to escape the pressure of being a mother.

76 out of 100 wish to spend more time with their children

42 out of 100 wish for a successful career

23 out of 100 wish for a good body and charming appearance

If these results are accurate… and I don’t have any reason to think they are not… isn’t it clear that the moms here are crying out for help?!?! The great majority want to spend more time with their kids… and feel like career and appearance are less important… and yet most find it difficult if not impossible to make the adjustments in life to give them more time with their children.

This is why things like Angie’s Friday AM book study is SO NECESSARY and SO HELPFUL and SO PRACTICAL! It is a group of moms who are reading through The Five Love Languages of Children together.

I don’t think the answers are easy to remedy… cultural and societal norms are mostly to blame I think. The parents here feel so much cultural pressure related primarily to education and “tuition” that they don’t see any alternative to both parents working as much as possible to pay for school and private tutors and cram schools, etc. As you can imagine, this environment is generally horrible for most children, too… who would also say that their greatest hope is to spend more time with mom and dad.

There is some reason for hope as lately I’ve met more and more parents who seem to realize that one of the keys to a good life is “balance”. One of my neighbors runs a restaurant and he closes early and is closed on Sunday just because he wants to spend time with his wife and kids. He said that people work so hard to make money but that it isn’t very important anyway and people who work all the time often lose their relationships with their family… good for him. His family will benefit over the years from his wisdom.

WEBLINK —> Mothers In Taiwan Are Overburdened