Be careful what you wish for ... especially when you realize later in life that your nightmare actually never existed.
As mentioned above, teenage me had no idea about the ONE thing out of many I find interesting as my definite #careerchoice to focus on exclusively as my "profession" or "occupation". I found the very idea limiting, restricting, terrible as it meant killing off parts of my personality...
Hence I was opposing the concept my #workingclass ancestors had accepted as "normal": choosing a profession with 13, 14 years and sticking with it until retirement. And for women: no need for higher education as you'll marry anyway and become mother and housewife.
Only recently I realized one thing:
Growing up in a society scarred by violence and loss (of family members and homes) because of two World Wars, a certain stability and sense of security became this big ideal of a youth eager to re-build what had been destroyed.
Especially for working class people the perspective of "you choose a job as a teenager and you can stick with it safely until age 65" was a DREAM, a solid basis to build your whole life and the lives of your family on.
For women who lost husbands, brothers and kids to the war (like my grandmother), witnessed a school and people inside being bombed to pieces (like my mom), the perspective of a SAFE home where you cater to your husband and kids, #whattocooktoday *) being your only worry, has naturally a huge appeal.
However, the #storiedcareer thing after WW II - for both men and women - has always been just that: a story, a fairytale. At least for the working class.
Whereas there have been men who could achieve this "continuing career from 14 to 65", the "stay-at-home-housewife-mom" thing has never been a reality for the Austrian working class - which Conservatives / right wingers still haven't acknowledged. Fact is: Before WW I, working class women and children worked as hard as men, as long as they lived (which usually wasn't that long...); not to mention the situation for farmers. Even in my own family I recall only very few examples that correspond with this #stayathomemom ideal. Most females in my huge family were (are) working in odd jobs or on regular part-time or full-time basis, because one working class income is not enough to sustain a household. Or simply because there's no husband to bring home the dow...
If you think women handling both career and family is a brand new thing - think again. #workingmoms have been the farmer / working class life style for centuries and nobody had made a big deal about it so far.
Another reason to ditch those "women should be at home" or "choose ONE career path for the rest of your life" myth: That's no longer ideal but a major career obstacle! Luckily society has adopted a positive attitude towards life-long learning and patchwork CVs like mine are no longer exotic but the norm.
So, what is nowadays the "dream", the "fairytale" or "ideal image" of work life?
Fully digitalized household and #remotework? AI - human communication? Startups?
I don't know - maybe worth thinking about it.
Nowadays, I view my old nightmare a bit differently.
Now, an old fashioned work contract for a full-time job over an unlimited time period and a regular, reliable monthly income seems like something really really nice to have.
Yet to me it seems like a fairytale and distant dream right now ...
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* literally a book title: "Was koche ich heute? klassische Wiener Küche, lustvoll kochen mit Genuss" - Hans Ziegenbein / Julius Eckel ; written appr. 1928, first released around 1930, a 1950s bestseller and my family had one of those, too. I remember seeing detailed and illustrated instructions “how to kill and disembowel a chicken” or “how to kill and cut up a carp”. Original copies and re-prints are still available