I want to cast my vote in favor of accommodations in the workplace for
children.  I disagree that this constitutes some sort of plot to have work
intrude more upon family time.  It is a romantic notion to believe that the
"normal" pattern of child care/family life is a mom in the home caring for
her kids.  That has only been true down through history for a certain subset
of priviledged women.  (Priviledged doesn't necessarily mean rich, either.
I wasn't rich when I elected to stay home, but I knew I wouldn't starve and
that I'd still have a roof over our heads if I quit my job).  For most of
human history most women have to work very hard just to survive, and even
harder to insured that some of their children survived, too.  It could
easily be argued that the more "normal" pattern of mothering is access to
one's children while working.

 That model could be incorporated into modern work places with very humane
affects on our whole culture.  It would result in less age segregation, more
awareness of the needs of children, and flexible work patterns that allow
for people to work outside rigid schedules and settings.  Right now both my
husband and I work from our home.  We often work until midnight, but the
trade-off is that we stay off the roads during rush hours, can take a half
hour nap if we need one in the afternoon, and can often lunch together or
linger over a cup of coffee in the morning. If one of our teens or young
adult children need us, we can take a break to be available. His employer
probably is getting more hours of work from him because there is a tendency
to finish tasks that would otherwise be left at the office for the next day.
The trade-off in civilizing our existence is well worth that fact.

 When I had my clinic open, I purposely situated it in  spaces that
accommodated my own children.  Later, I even located it in a little house.
My office manager often had her kids with her, and we easily worked around
our children's needs.  It wasn't always convenient, but I found that my
willingness to be flexible created such tremendous loyalty that she was the
best employee I ever saw.  Everyone wins when we don't force people into
just one model or solution.  I'm for creative anarchy.

Barbara Wilson-Clay BSEd, IBCLC
Austin Lactation Associates
http://www.lactnews.com

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