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Working moms' guilty little secret

MARJO JOHNE

From Wednesday's Globe and Mail

Latest comment posted at 11:37 PM EDT 15/07/07

Business travel disruptive? It can actually be a welcome respite from the demands of home, Marjo Johne finds ...Read the full article

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  1. joanne dewey from Canada writes: Sigh. yet another article which suggests that women should feel guilty for having lives separate from their children. Women have no need to feel guilty about needing 'me' time; nor does the verbalisation of this need translate into a 'confession'. Rather, it's a simple fact of life. Women, like men, need rooms of their own, spaces in which to be alone with themselves.

    I go on business trips; and most of the time, when I'm away, I sleep. I just go to bed at 8 pm and get up the next morning at 6:30. It's blissful and a big change from the usual 5.5 hours of sleep I get per night. My colleagues who are mothers generally do the same. Sleep is at a premium and we take it when we get it. It's not a secret, it's not a confession, it's not guilt. It's necessary.

    When will the Globe publish an article on men's guilt at being away from their children?
  2. Cold Clear Water from Canada writes: I agree joanne dewey, why the guilt? Guilt indicates some kind of wrong, yet there is none here--my spouse is away currently for 2 nights on business, tonight she's going out for dinner with friends, plans to relax afterwards. Good for her. She deserves a break and she needs her space as much as I need mine.
  3. Kay Ay from East of To., Canada writes: No guilt necessary here.
    While it's hard to adjust to having nothing to do (hence all the sleeping) you should not feel guilty for being away for a night or two.
    Independance is good for everyone moms, dads and children alike.
  4. L C the 1st from Canada writes: I loved my time on the road. After work, I would sleep. A little shopping or sightseeing maybe, but mostly sleep. I don't get to sleep or watch TV at home.

    I have no idea why I felt guilty, but I did. Maybe it's hardwired into us.
  5. Lisette Surette from Canada writes: While I could identify with this article, I was also slightly miffed. No articles about men and travel where they confess to their guilt and say how they are catching up on sleep! I travel for work, and I tell you: it is exhausting before I leave and exhausting when I come home. There is so much preparation (catching up on homework, meals to cook, babysitters lists...I could go on) involved that it is by no small that everyone talks about the sleep! And let us not forget that these women, myself included, are not at some cushy yoga retreat or spa for a weekend : THEY ARE WORKING.
  6. Geoff Flaherty from Toronto, Canada writes: Ahem! "Mom's Guilty Little Secret"? Oh, really? This presupposes that Mom(s) in the past were either SO STUPID and/or DEAF that they didn't hear their husbands actually TELL them that cusiness travel can actually be a welcome respite from the demands of home.

    Apparently, it takes a Marjo Johne to "discover" this "secret" which has been known by responsible working husbands and fathers since Mother Capitalism first birthed contemporary economics. Interesting...and entirely sexist.

    Mercifully, it didn't take a "woman" to confirm the existence of breast cancer, and it doesn't necessarily take women to cure a patient of breast cancer. But it takes women over 400 years to discover this "secret".

    I refuse to believe my wife is a member of such a STUPID sex. I suspect that this is news only to a small minority of women - those who are irretrievably stupid.
  7. Geoff Flaherty from Toronto, Canada writes: Dear L C the First from Canada:

    Being a guiltridden victim is not "hardwired" into the entire female sex, and to suggest same is to "buy into" and "perpetuate" stereotyping which, as I recall, is a dangerous practice.

    No, L C, the female sex if not hardwired to feel guiltridden and victimized. However, L C, clearly there does exist a small minority of dysfunctional women who are hardwired to feel guilty and victimized.

    Somehow, something tells me that the small minority of dysfunctional women who are hardwired to feel guilty and victimized all the time are also over-represented in divorce statistics, although understandably so. People of either sex WILL wipe their feet on doormats, be they of the synthetic fibre or human variety.

    L C, you only FIND what you LOOK FOR in life.
  8. interested observer from victoria, Canada writes: Geoff Flaherty from Toronto, Canada

    With a name like "Geoff", are you sure you are qualified to tell us what women think or feel? A tad presumptuous - yes or no?

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