Homework 36

1.First Interview(My friends mother)

  The question I asked to start the interview was How did the pregnancy affect you physically, emotionally, or in other ways? She explained that when it came to her emotions she was always up and down. It was cross between being happy that she is going to have another child and the fact that she did not know if her and her husband would be able to take on the responsibility of having another child and could they go through the same stressful process they went through with their first child. When she explained how it affected her physically, she said that she already knew what would happen to her body since she already had a kid before, but what bothered her was that she would have to do a lot of work to get her body back to the way she wanted it. When she told me that she wasn't sure if she could deal with having another baby I asked then why get pregnant, She explained that she would like to have another kid in the house and she feels that it would be good that her older son had a younger sibling to take care of and look after.

  From my point of view all the things that she explained to me where the basics that I already knew from before. The while idea that the process of having a kid is very long and painful and when it came to emotions I already understood that women get depressed and happy during pregnancy. What I found interesting was that she was having a kid so that my friend would have a baby brother or sister in his life.

2.Second Interview(Lady in grocery store)

   While picking up some groceries at the supermarket, I began to talk to a pregnant while waiting on line to  paying for my groceries.I explained to her that I had to go and interview pregnant woman for a class at school so that it wouldn't be more awkward then it already was. The question I asked her was What influenced your choice to have a baby. Her answer was that she really want's to be a stay home mom so that she can raise her kid and make sure that she devotes her time towards her baby, and if it goes as plan she might even consider home schooling her child. Since I wasn't going to be able to sit down and talk to this woman, instead of asking another question I just branched off what we were already talking about. I asked her does she want more than one kid to stay home and take care of. She said she would like two but if she only gives birth to one it doesn't matter.

   What I found found extremely interesting was that in our culture most woman don't let their baby hold them back from being apart of the corporate world. Most mothers just get baby sitters to take care of their child for most of the time. So when she said that she want's to be a stay home mom, I was really surprised because most mothers don't do that. If i had more time the question i would ask her is What inspired you be be a stay home mom?

3.Thrid interview(My mother)

   I feel that my mother would be a great person to interview because I would be able to see what my mother went through when she was pregnant with me and my brother. The first thing my mother told me was that when she was pregnant with me she began to sneeze way more then any normal person would sneeze that for those 9 months she was constantly sneezing but she wasn't sick, but when she gave birth to me a couple weeks later she stop sneezing. She also told me that she was worried when she was giving birth to me because I was premature and she felt that I wasn't going to make it. When I asked her what feelings or memories come back to her when you think of giving birth? she said just the idea of having children of her own brought tons of joy into her life and knowing that she would be able to have tow little boys in her household made her happy.

   What I found interesting was the whole thing about her sneezing. The question I forgot to ask was What made her sneeze so much? what my mother said was something that I also heard from the other mothers. The fact that knowing you are going to give birth makes you very happy and you can't wait to hold your new born baby in your arms.

What influences your choice on having a child?, I feel that there are multiple reasons on why people decide to have children so by doing these interviews I am able to explore the multiple stories and understand why woman decide to have kids.

Homework 35

   I interviewed the age group of 13-18. I realize that everyone believed that when a child was born it was a great thing and was supposed to be celebrated by the family and people around the new born child. I also realized that with the younger kids their responses where very vague and it took a lot of time and effort to actually get some deep insights out of them. They mostly talked about how painful it is for a woman, and that the process takes about 8 months and how it takes a lot of time to care of a baby and that it is a huge responsibility, but besides that they did not explore the multiple aspects associated with birth. But as I began to interview the older kids the conversations where very interesting. A pattern that I notice with the older kids is that they had a tendency to ask me a question during the interview and how i felt about the topic which I thought was very interesting because it brought depth to the conversation that we where having. My friend Jamal ask me "Depending on the religion and culture of a certain society do you think the doctor has more or less control in the birth process? I felt like that question was a very god question because it can be interpreted in many ways you can focus on the social class of that society, the traditions and beliefs, and also explore religion. I just feel that Birth is such a complex topic and the older you get the more you can actually wrap your mind around it.

   One thing I know for sure is that Birth is never just handled in one way, depending on where you are from and what you believe in the birth process can be very different or very similar. The one thing that can be connected between all races, religions, and cultures is it is an event in a woman's life that is celebrated and never looked upon as a negative but more of a positive. I feel that no matter the scenario when a baby is brought into the world people look at is a gift and that you should be thankful to have this child in your life. During the process of these interviews I have come to a conclusion that birth really cant be explained i feel that the birth it self is always the same but how you go about the setting,doctor, and what the baby is suppose to be born into is all at random because every one has there own special theatrics that they want done around their new born child.

Homework 34

   In our society the birth of a new born child is looked upon as a gift, the parents of a new born baby feel that their child is special and that their child has characteristics of a leader and the potential to change the world. I honestly believe that every time a baby is brought to this earth that is the exact mind state that every parent has. But on the other hand birth is looked at as a burden and something that slows a persons life down, to have to constantly watch and take care of a baby takes a huge chunk of time out of any body's schedule, I feel that that is the reason why people always wait till they are older and more mature to have children. It would make no sense what so ever to have a child in a early stage of your life because their are probably multiple goals and aspirations that you want to fulfill before you begin to settle down. 

   While discussing the topic of birth with one of my fathers associates he brought up an interesting point. He said that "That once a person has a child it's the parents job to make sure that their child does better and lives a better life then they did"after thinking that over and getting a clear explanation on why he said that it actually made sense. The reason why I can agree with him on his conclusion is because i can connect to it and see it in my daily life. My mother and father where both born and raised in Jamaica, my mother moved to America to make sure she went a college and had a career that she was happy with. My father also move to america with a dream of owning a electrical contracting business. My mother always told me that the reason she moved to america is because one day she knew she wanted to have kids and she wanted to make sure her kids did not have to struggle like she did. I think the main reason why what my father's business partner said is so important is because it is true. Connecting back to what we learned in class about Culture of Power and how people should be rich in culture and intelligence and should travel the world and learn new things, and i feel like that is most parents dream and goal in life is to make sure that when their child is born even if they have to bust their ass working to make sure that their child has the advantage that they didn't then they will do everything possible to make that happen.

Questions:

1) Is the birth rate higher in America do to the fact that their is more opportunities and jobs to be obtained?

2) What is the average age for a couple to decide to have a kid?

3) Is the birth of a child looked upon as a positive or negative in our culture?