I really need to find someone who had a blissful pregnancy, found breastfeeding a breeze, had babies that slept through the night from day one and who slipped back to their pre-baby weight within weeks to write a guest post about all the joys of having children. I fear I am painting such a dismal picture you will never want to procreate.

Love that you are taking on the towel issue.

Lack of resources can make parenting difficult, there is no doubt about that.

Now I’ll talk to your child about those towels, and let’s all have a relaxing weekend!
N

I know it is a fine line, there is a part of me that goes OK is this what we’ve wanted all along – the opportunity to be treated equally. However, the more I see even the high flyers struggling the more I think the work model isn’t really effective for anybody. Anne-Marie Slaughter’s piece in the Atlantic on why we can’t have it all is an indication that maybe we need changes.

You are right the CEO level is a different world, big bucks and big pressure. It’s probably not feasible that a CEO can take a month or two off work – particularly given the challenges Yahoo is experiencing if they have been through 7 CEO’s in two years.

What is different in this case though is her financial means. She’ll be earning heaps. She won’t have that financial worry about paying for all the extra help she’ll need to ensure the after-effects of her pregnancy are minimised. And you know what? That doesn’t sound so forward-thinking or progressive to me. Just my 2 cents.

Either that, or she will become the 7th Ex-CEO of Yahoo in the past two years, and Yahoo will just move on to the next person.

I absolutely agree that every woman has the right to choose when/if/how they return to work given their own circumstances, and I don’t believe any child is neglected by a mother’s return to work. What worries me about this story is that initially it was seen as Yahoo being so progressive in hiring a pregnant woman, but with just two weeks maternity leave you are simply pretending the birth hasn’t happened. Marissa is obviously a talented, successful woman, with the means to demand better than that, a situation of power that most women will never experience. I also think no matter what your financial circumstances giving birth is a hell of a job and I’m not sure we’ve come very far if winning jobs demands we ignore that process. I didn’t intend the piece to be a criticism of Marissa, or her choices, but it was saying this might be a little tougher than you first thought, and if so it’s OK to come up with a Plan B.