“A recent book, “Power Moms,” asserts that “working-mother guilt persists in American society today because gender-role expectations haven’t evolved enough.” Here’s another perspective: If you feel guilty, it’s because you know your children need you.
Maternal guilt, within reason, isn’t a bad feeling to be ditched. It’s a signal feeling—one that helps us to focus on what’s important. If you break your ankle running, nobody would tell you to ignore the excruciating pain and blame social conditioning when that proves impossible. But when it comes to an emotional equivalent like guilt, we tell mothers to ignore it at the expense of their children’s well-being—and their own.” Read the rest of the article here.