Do Working Mom Lawyers Spread Themselves too Thin?
Working Moms can Burden Themselves by Trying to be a "Good Lawyer" and a "Good Mother"
They may be few and far between, but they exist - mom lawyers who love having demanding jobs.
These are lawyers who have traded-in minivans and soccer practices for board meetings and grueling litigation.
These are moms who won't quit - literally.
But the question is, are these "happy" mom lawyers spreading themselves too thin? Some experts say - yes.
A recent article by Vivia Chen at The Careerist actually paints a not-so-happy picture of what these working moms are facing at home.
Chen cites Middlebury College sociology professor Margaret Nelson who argues inThe Washington Post that professional women see their life choices in stark terms: "They can overwork themselves, or they can leave the workforce." For many, it's a matter of being a "good lawyer" or a "good mother" - there is no grey area.
Even worse are the expectations working moms place on themselves. In "All Joy and No Fun" in New York magazine, Jennifer Senior writes:
When people wait to have children, they're also bringing different sensibilities to the enterprise. They've spent their adult lives as professionals, believing there's a right way and a wrong way of doing things; now they're applying the same logic to the family-expansion business, and they're surrounded by a marketplace that only affirms and reinforces this idea.
Despite this push-pull scenario being played out inside working mom households, there is a silver lining - the children. Studies show parents - especially moms - are actually spending more time with their kids than ever before.
"Since 1965, the amount of time mothers spend on all child-care activities has risen, even though the majority of mothers are now in the labor force; the increase has been particularly sharp among highly educated mothers," writes Nelson.
Are you a working lawyer mom? How has your career impacted your relationships with your children? And, more importantly, how has juggling family and career impacted you?
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