Anyone who has ever felt guilty about missing a child's bedtime because of work will benefit from Jodi Kantor’s reminiscences on covering the
presidential campaign during the first two years of her daughter’s life.
Kantor’s honesty about her own guilt—and sometimes lack
thereof—over her demanding work life offers a refreshing look at the myriad ways
one can be a good mother. Kantor openly admits that, despite missing her daughter
horribly, she loved campaign trips, when she could fully focus on her work—and
on being an adult, doing such novel things as going for drinks with her
colleagues.
Most importantly, Kantor writes, “[T]here is no maternally
correct way to say this, but the things I saw on the road—Obama’s world, the
Edwards family trying to hold it together, the Huckabee surge, Iowa, African
American voters in South Carolina, Hillary Clinton’s last stand, Denver—were
worth the hours away from my daughter.”
I would add that that time apart was probably justified for
the daughter as well. Growing up with a parent who has such rich work
experiences to share surely opens children up to the world in important ways. And the fact that Kantor is also a devoted, loving mother who is home most of
the time can't hurt, either.
Related articles on Babble:
No Country for New Mothers: A war reporter's first post-baby trip to Iraq.
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