Library Lady raises her own kids

Blog post: Library Lady is bringing up her kids

As someone who used to do library storytimes as a children's librarian and is now bringing her own child to library storytimes, this post resonates with me. There are no good terms for parents who work for a paycheck outside the home, those who work for a paycheck inside the home, and those who work without ever seeing a paycheck. "Working mom" implies that mothers who don't get paychecks aren't working, and "full-time mom" implies that mothers who work for paychecks outside the home aren't their children's mothers all the time. More important than labels, though, are the choices we've made, the decisions we've had to make, and the challenges that come up no matter what we do.

I'm going to do my best to avoid articles that lay guilt-trips upon mothers who work for paychecks outside of the home regardless of why they do it, or upon the mothers who work as parents without the benefits of paychecks, health insurance, etc. I'm also going to stop trying to justify the professional and personal choices I've made. All along, Bede and I have worked to make decisions that were best for our family.

I'm curious... when someone tries to undermine a decision into which you've placed a lot of thought, how do you respond? When it happens, I'm so taken aback that I come up with my witty response long after that person has gone on to something else.