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Dad Diary

 I am increasingly aware of moms--they're usually moms--who cannot find an "on-road," a way of returning to the working world.


One mom I particularly like complained, via Facebook, that she could not get a job "despite my advanced degree in French literature." She said that all she could find was a position with very, very small children, and the pay was fourteen dollars per hour. People always react strangely to this issue: "Teaching is a lofty calling! What a privilege and honor! Go teach!" I notice that the people who tend to glorify the life of a teacher...are, in fact, very far from the teaching profession. And their misty view of the nobility of "classroom life" never seems to lead them to exit the office and enroll in night school at Bank Street....

Another favorite mom wrote, "I am so lonely and sad. I dream of working, but I don't see how this is realistic until both of my children are in school. I think I'm wading through a type of postpartum mood disorder? Only now it's lasted several years...." A few kind moms replied: "I was there! I was there, too. It passes. I have a job now, like an actual grownup...."

Sometimes, I think of Betty Draper, in "Mad Men." She makes nasty comments to the cleaning lady, then recalls, "I attended Bryn Mawr! I am fluent in Italian!"

That's where my mind is--these days. Stay tuned.
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