From: utzoo!decvax!ucbvax!CAD:tektronix!tekmdp!janetr Newsgroups: net.women Title: Re: re: Working(Selfish) Mothers Article-I.D.: tekmdp.1749 Posted: Thu Feb 3 08:25:17 1983 Received: Sat Feb 5 05:08:56 1983 mts--thanks for your followup letter. I'm also a working mother with a very high commitment to my children (I have a 5-year-old and am expecting a baby). I agree with you that burnout is a real issue, although it was as much of an issue for me when my son was a baby and I stayed home fulltime. Whether you're providing fulltime loving childcare or working at an outside job plus doing intensive after-hours parenting, you're putting out *a lot* of caring energy, and it's absolutely essential to do whatever you need to do to replenish your own stores. (For me, that means having some time to myself each week.) The other thing that cheered me about your letter is the attitude of tolerance and respect for other peoples' choices that you expressed. It was especially welcome after reading some of the misanthropic intolerance expressed by some of the anti-abortion netwriters, who manage to dismiss any difference of opinion or feeling by accusing the other person of self-justification or delusion.