Dear Baby,

I have just finished a day of lectures and seminars, and as I write this you are the size of a raspberry growing in my body. I dread to think that when you learn about the year you were conceived you will probably be horrified. As a citizen of the world I am embarrassed, and as your mother, I am sad.

I worry that I am bringing you into a world where there is more misery than good, where we are indoctrinated by the media to dislike what is unknown, and where we are so desensitized that we stand by and allow atrocities to occur and do nothing more than give a like on Facebook.

A rise in nationalism, fear-mongering and a distaste of the establishment has left the United Kingdom opting out of a wider European community through Brexit and led to the election of Mr. Donald Trump for American President. Both are beads on the string of oddities that have gripped of the world and shaken it.

All I need to do is turn on the television, or have a look at the news online, and I can see destruction and despair. Only this morning I watched a video that brought me to tears about the massacre in Aleppo. These are events you will study in History class, but I hope that by the time you are old enough to learn about them, the world will be better.

My little baby, I am so young, and you have been a big surprise to me and your daddy. I am going to bring you into a world unprepared, and while I fear the change you represent to my life, my fear for the kind of life you will have is much greater. It saddens and scares me to know that I will birth you into a world that seems to be turned completely upside down.

In this world of hardship, I have sadly learned that we cannot all be superheroes, and that not everyone gets a fairy-tale ending. I see people suffering on my screen and I ache to help them, but alas, I cannot. I can do my little bit, and I can teach you to do the same. Hopefully, through our small deeds of love, we can make some difference.
I want to show you that even when life isn’t like the books—and believe me there will be lots of books—we can still reach for the stars.

If you are a girl, I want to teach you to be strong, and prepare you for what is sadly, still a man’s world. As a woman, I am terrified for you, because to be a woman in this world is still a challenge. If you are a boy, I hope I will be able to teach you to respect women. Despite what society might deem acceptable, I want to teach you that you are allowed to feel as deeply as anyone, and that showing emotion does not make you weak; I want to break through gender stereotypes, and teach you that you can be anyone you want to.

Oh my darling little one, I have many hopes and dreams of things I want to teach you and of things that I would like to do so that you can grow into the person you want to be. I hope to show you that smiling at a stranger can make their day, and that it is never unwise to be kind to other people. I want to give you all the lessons my parents gave me, and build a relationship of trust and friendship with you. My parents, your grandparents, are such kind people, and they helped me learn and encouraged me always—I want to do the same for you.

I know that there is a lot of sadness and misery in the world, but the thought of you is not sad—it is beautiful. I know I will struggle, and I will not be perfect, but I promise to try my best. I promise to try and give you everything—the way my parents did for me.

Most of all, I promise I will love you unconditionally.

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Author: Rohana Dewfall

Image: Pexels

Editors: Travis May