Moms in Space

Becoming a mother was a life changing experience for me. My life focus changed dramatically, far more than it did when I got married, or when I graduated from college or any other life passage. Life centered around the Child. Yes I have a budding writing career, yes I have a husband, yes I have a day job. Despite having all those other things in life, my children are still my focus. Other women I know well have this same reaction to motherhood. It seems common. I suspect it was just as common in 11 BC as it is in our time.

What about 4011? What will life be like for families, for children, for mothers? I doubt that a two year old will be any different in the distant future than a two year old is right now, or that child development will change any any significant way. I doubt children will potty train upon walking with no muss, fuss or accidents, or that adolescents with be mood-swing free. Culture, marriage and family structure might change--but a two year old will still need  constant interaction and oversight. Children will still need years of care and will never be conveniently hidden away until the day they are mature adults.

I find the topic of child rearing in the future fascinating. In popular television we have glimpses of child rearing aboard the Enterprise. In classic scifi fiction, Robert Heinlein's Lazarus Long is part of a group marriage, where children are welcome and child care is shared. There are also planet pioneers with family structure similar to what we experience. Podkayne's life is disrupted by the early arrival of twins--though hers did not come from Mother's womb.

Although she is not actually scifi, Buffy is a good example of a kick ass heroine with parenting responsibilities  She becomes responsible for the rearing of her younger sister Dawn after the death of their mother. Lucky for them both, Buffy was not a loner and developed a loyal group of Scoobies, who helped her fight the evils from the Hellmouth and also made pancakes for her sister Dawn. Even Spike the vampire did babysitting duty.

That is part of what I find fascinating about the topic of children in the future. It is hard to raise a child all alone, isolated. Western homesteaders developed schools and social events so their isolated families could be together. Children encourage community, people bonding together to make a safe environment for families.

In Refugees  On Urloon, the SFR I'm currently getting ready to sub, my heroine Svana is an older woman, and a mother. Her daughter is grown and they are separated by a huge distance. As if life is not complicated enough planning a future on an isolated, strange world, Svana experiences an unplanned pregnancy.  She now has far more to worry about.

While romances with children and babies do not appeal to every reader, they do have their readers. I think there is room in science fiction romance for romances that include mother, children, fathers and the chaos of family life.