Heart to heart

I finally managed to get myself for a dental and hygienist check up this week at my new surgery, the latter of which ended with a bit of a heart to heart about being a mum with a career, and how conflicted it makes us. My new hygienist has two daughters, one 13 years old and one 9 years old, and yet we both understood each other's positions. She told me that she was now a single mum, so the pressure was really on.

Our mini-discussion led us to agree that the wish for having a family and a career should possibly be discussed during the career talks at school, so as to help decide what job may be more flexible around having a family (but I fear that might scare parents, making them think that their children are being encouraged to have a family), and yet, part of me wonders why we should sacrifice the careers we really want just because we may want a family too some day. This reminded me of Licia Ronzulli, an MEP from Italy who took her tiny baby to work: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1314283/Licia-Ronzulli-brings-baby-EU-Parliament.html proving that both are just as important as each other to some.

Will we ever feel as if we get the balance right? Possibly not - but that wont stop most of us from trying!