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Comments Made to a Mother of Girls

June 2, 2022/ Lilly Roan

Four girls in five years, wow, did you plan that? Do they all have the same father? Are you going to try for a boy? Have you figured out where babies come from? You’re a fertile myrtle.  Do you not believe in birth control? You obviously don’t like condoms. Kids are a blessing. Kids are the ultimate STD. Are you Mormon? Did you consider abortion? How does your husband feel about you having so many kids? Did you get pregnant so he’d marry you?  Are they all yours? How much do you spend a week on groceries? Are you on food stamps?  That’s a lot of weddings to pay for. At least girls don’t have to go to college. Your poor husband. He’s so outnumbered. I hope your husband owns a shotgun. Do you still have sex? Do you even feel anything down there? You should probably just stop having sex. Wow, you’re huge. Are you having twins? Wow, you look great for having kids. When I was pregnant, women hid their bellies. Pregnant bellies are gross. You’re glowing. Can I touch your belly? This is weird, and I promise I’m normal, but are you single? I can’t believe you’re wearing a bikini. At least since your babies were premature you didn’t get as many stretch marks. Do you regret not having a boy? You could adopt. You shouldn’t adopt, you have too many already. What about the babies that need homes? The kids in foster care? You could do more. You’ve done enough. Don’t you realize the world is overpopulated? People aren’t having enough kids. Children are the future. Too bad the planet will be destroyed before they get to grow up. You’ll never survive the apocalypse with all that baggage. What do you do all day, eat candy and sit on Facebook? When are you getting a real job? Why bother going back to school if you’re just going to stay home? You’re such a good example for your girls. You’re selfish to work  You’re selfish to go to grad school. Isn’t a bachelor’s degree enough? What are you trying to prove? I feel bad for your husband having to support you sitting around all day. You need more hobbies. I didn’t know moms had time to play video games. Don’t you know how to dust? Your writing is taking time away from your kids. You shouldn’t give up your dreams. Don’t get too busy, that’s when men cheat. You’re lucky you get to stay home. I couldn’t stand staying home. Wait, where are the kids? What do you mean the dog is babysitting? You can’t crate train children. How can you say your dog is your favorite child? How can you make a joke like that? Do you hate being a mother? Can your husband handle watching them? You’re so lucky your husband babysits. If you were my wife, I would never let you wear a dress that short. Why don’t you try harder to be pretty? You don’t need to wear makeup, who are you trying to impress? Motherhood is what women are made for. Being a breeder is just supporting the patriarchy. It doesn’t get better than this. It’s all downhill from here. You just reminded me to take my birth control. You’re making me miss when my grown children were little. You should get out more. You should prioritize your kids more. You’re doing a great job. What do you mean your kids don’t know Spanish? You used to be fun. Nah, you were never cool. You’re too young to have kids that age. You’re too old to have more kids. I would be crying if I were you. Why are you depressed? Your life is amazing. Your life is a mess. How do you do it all? What exactly are you even busy doing all day? Don’t you want more than this? What more could you want? You’ve hit your peak. What will you have left when they leave? These are the best days of your life. Just slow down. You’re going to miss this.

Headshot photo of writer Lilly Roan

Lilly Roan writes from Jonesborough, TN where she lives with her husband, four children, and many animals including her service dog, Ghost. She has recently been published at JMWW, Little Patuxent Review, and Dream of Shadows. She is an MFA in Writing candidate at the Vermont College of Fine Art. To read more of her writing, check out her website at LillyRoan.com and follow her Instagram account @TheRoanWriter.

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Friday Lunch Blog

Friday Lunch! A serving of contemporary essays published the second Friday of every month.

Today’s course:

Behind the Eight Ball: How to Become Homeless in the Richest Country in the World

June 13, 2025/in Blog / Valerie Nyberg
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Meeting My Child Self at the Trauma Play

May 9, 2025/in Blog / Gale Naylor
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Products of Our Environment

March 14, 2025/in Blog / Mitko Grigorov
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Midnight Snack

Take a bite out of these late night obsessions.

Tonight’s bites:

Dig Into Genre

May 23, 2025/in Midnight Snack / Lauren Howard
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The dreams in which I’m (not) dying

April 25, 2025/in Midnight Snack / paparouna
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On The Map

March 28, 2025/in Midnight Snack / Ariadne Will
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Amuse-Bouche

Little bites every third Friday to whet your appetite!

Today’s plate:

Tale of the resistant apple tree

June 6, 2025/in Amuse-Bouche / Tahar Bekri, translated by Patrick Williamson
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https://lunchticket.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/TaharBekri.jpg 512 340 Tahar Bekri, translated by Patrick Williamson https://lunchticket.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/lunch-ticket-logo-white-text-only.png Tahar Bekri, translated by Patrick Williamson2025-06-06 11:00:072025-06-17 18:56:48Tale of the resistant apple tree

Talyshi Wall Graffiti and other poems

May 30, 2025/in Amuse-Bouche / Ghazal
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we don’t spend our lives in the belly of the fish

May 16, 2025/in Amuse-Bouche / translated from French by Gabriella Bedetti and Don Boes
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https://lunchticket.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/headshot-translator-Gabriella-Bedetti.jpg 400 400 translated from French by Gabriella Bedetti and Don Boes https://lunchticket.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/lunch-ticket-logo-white-text-only.png translated from French by Gabriella Bedetti and Don Boes2025-05-16 11:00:362025-07-08 07:33:51we don’t spend our lives in the belly of the fish

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School Lunch

An occasional Wednesday series dishing up today’s best youth writers.

Today’s slice:

I’ve Stayed in the Front Yard

May 12, 2021/in School Lunch, School Lunch 2021 / Brendan Nurczyk
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A Communal Announcement

April 28, 2021/in School Lunch, School Lunch 2021 / Isabella Dail
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Seventeen

April 14, 2021/in School Lunch, School Lunch 2021 / Abigail E. Calimaran
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Word From the Editor

The state of the world breaks my heart every day. Broken hearted, I stay online. I can’t log off. Because my career and schooling are all done remotely, I tend to struggle with boundaries regarding screen time, with knowing when to break away.

Like many of you, I have been spilling my guts online to the world because the guts of the world keep spilling. None of it is pretty. But it’s one of the things that, having searched for basically my entire life, I found that tempers the chaos that lives rent free inside my head.

More from the current editor »
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