Angie, I know what you mean about there not being a lot of domestic assistance readily available here in the US. I have to say up front that I don't have kids, so I am speaking as someone who has observed the difficulties other people have gone through (so I could totally be off the mark). A lot of Brendan's coworkers and people I know have had children here in Austin and have had a terrible time trying to find a daycare or babysitter. My hair stylist has a 2 year old and just had a baby, and it took them almost a year to find a daycare for their older child (they had to get on a waitlist for one that hadn't even been built yet). Brendan is 6 years older than I am and really excited to be a dad, but I'm terrified of having kids! Our closest family is mine, which is in Idaho, so we don't have that sort of help, and I am so worried that if we couldn't find a suitable childcare facility, I would have to give up school or work to stay home with them. I obviously don't know how I'll feel once I have kids, I might want to be a SAHM, but if I did still want to work, I would want that option available to me. I'm not sure why there is not a lot of help for SAHM in the US (there are a lot of theories out there), it worries me though and makes me very hesitant to have children. I am inspired by the women on this forum with children though--they all seem to remember that they are mothers, wives, partners, etc, but they are also still women and deserve to look good and feel good, too (and should NEVER feel guilty about that).
