Cat and Mouse

 Jianping Chen (Jenny)

November 3, 2020

Cause and Effect Essay 

 

Cat and Mouse

 

I have never thought that I was illegal in the eyes of the world. However, the law didn’t allow for my mother to give birth to me when I was born in China, which made me cherish myself. The population became too large in China after the1980s, so there was a law about birth control called the One Child Policy. In addition, People could not give birth over three kids in a family by law in 1982. Influenced by Mao, people still thought that the population was labor, and the old ideology communist believed that more people worked on the land could help for social development. As a result, there was serious overpopulation at that time, and people deeply rooted traditional Chinese ideas preferred sons to daughters. As a result, many people didn’t comply with the new laws. I was the third child in my family in the birth control time, and I had a special childhood like the cat and mouse game. Moreover, the game affected my family. The most important effect of this policy was my “special” childhood with my family.

One of the effects was my mother needed to give birth at home when she delivered me. If my mother gave birth in the hospital, the government would know I was the excess baby. The government would ask for fines for the planned child policy, and my mother had to have an operation of female sterilization. When my mother delivered me, she asked a retired doctor for help that helped many women give birth to the excess-babies at home. There was no special equipment, so they used hot water instead of alcohol disinfection. When my mother told me about that, I was lucky that I was healthy. In addition, maybe my mother delivered too fast, so she bled a lot. However, there was no machine to support the condition she had, and she still needed to take care of me after she gave birth. When I became a mother, I knew the reason why her back always felt hurt because she did not have a good rest and any postpartum examinations. I really wanted to know my weight of birth when I was a child, but now, I am fortunate that I grew up healthily.

Another effect was my family took me to escape form the Family Planning officer when I was a child. The census checked once every week in that time, so my parents had to take me into some relatives’ home or my father’s workplace in Guangzhou. When I was a child, I did not feel bored because I was always to go somewhere to avoid the inspection. I remember that I had been to all the relatives’ homes including my grandparents, aunts, and uncles. As a child, I did not feel bad to move anywhere like the duckweed, but I knew my mother felt tried. Moreover, she felt that she made trouble for the relatives. After a while, the census checks became more rigorous, and my mother did not want to make trouble for the relatives anymore. As a result, my parents took me to Guangzhou, where my father worked. The public transportation was not convenient, and we spent almost half a day going to Guangzhou from my village. On the way to Guangzhou, for the first time that I felt scared. The feeling not just that I did not know what would happen later. Instead it was a feeling that the atmosphere of silence for my parents. Until now, I cannot forget my mother could not take my older sisters with us to Guangzhou, and they cried miserably. They had to leave mother half a month, and our grandma was liked a babysitter to stay with my sisters. She didn’t care about what my sisters’ feeling. In addition, until now, my sisters don’t want talk about it anymore.

The most important effect was something that changed my mind when my parents escaped with me. The experience of escape made me want to plant a strong seed in my heart. At least, I had to be a dutiful child. It was a tiny room where my father lived in Guangzhou, but I liked it because it was on the second floor, and I could watch the night view through a teeny window. I didn’t see such a beautiful night view before. suddenly, I felt there was no place for me in the big world. I felt sad and embarrassed. When I grew up, the days of escape were still alive in my memory. In addition, it made me remember that I was small in the world, but I was great to myself and my family. Eventually, it made cherish my life more, and I think I need to make my life more meaningful. As a result, I gave up my successful career in China and came to a new country to restart in 2019. I wanted to know more about different counties, cultures and beliefs.

In conclusion, I had a happy childhood even though I had a difficult experience of escape. Additionally, I was not a boy in the time of traditional China. Luckily, my parents and my two sisters never said or thought about whether or not I should exist. They loved me more than they did, and I grew up in a lovely and tolerant family. When I think about it, this experience has made my family stronger to face the difficulties together. I think regardless of what happens in the future, we can care about each other. Likewise, I believe we can face the difficulties together in life whether bitter or sweet.