I can still remember the feeling acutely. Driving into the daycare centre to pick my baby up, panicked as the clock neared 6pm, worried about the work I had left undone at the office and above all excited to see my son. That roller-coaster of emotions occurred on a daily basis when I worked full time. I felt, like many career mothers feel, that I was completely torn between two lives. That I was not capable of delivering the same quality of work and quantity of time to my career that I once could and that I was not giving enough to my child. Even though all evidence pointed to the contrary, I was convinced I was failing at both roles. And after I filled my mother role, my career role and my growing self-doubt role, there was precious little left over to give to my husband, the house and (last on the list) myself. I know so many working women who feel like this. But perhaps we are our own worst enemy. Maybe, as well as looking critically at work practices and our situation, we need to challenge our beliefs.
