20 hours Ago By Nell Geraets
Most people will agree that becoming a parent changes your life. Fewer, it appears, can agree on how positive that change is. Last week, pop star Chappell Roan triggered a heated debate online after speaking about parenthood on the Call Her Daddy podcast.
When asked about her hometown friends, most of whom are now parents, the 27-year-old described their lives as hellish. Chappell Roan’s remarks about parenthood have certainly gotten people talking, but are they fair? Credit: AP “All of my friends who have kids are in hell. I don’t know anyone .
.. who’s happy and has children at this age,” Roan said.
“I literally have not met anyone who’s happy, anyone who has light in their eyes, anyone who has slept.” Roan’s comments aren’t entirely unfounded. Some studies suggest the first few years of a child’s life are the most stressful for mothers.
In fact, according to data from the 2010 Australian National Infant Feeding Survey, one in five mothers with children under two suffer perinatal depression. Parenting can certainly be challenging but Kathryn Francis, a 41-year-old Sydney-based mother, says Roan’s comments go a step too far. Loading “Her comments hit a raw nerve,” Francis, who has a one-year-old son, says.
“There’s this huge negative narrative around parenting ...
It made me feel like I need to downplay how much I’m enjoying being a mum. I’ve even had friends delay having kids because they’ve been told life is over once you have them.” For Francis, this couldn’t be further from the truth.
Since becoming a mother, she has travelled overseas, gone camping and enjoyed road trips with her son. Despite having some tough days (especially when sleep training), she says the positives outweigh the negatives. Kathryn Francis says the negative portrayal of motherhood could not be farther from her own experience.
Credit: Louise Kennerley.
