I don't have to make my kids wait to be with me or to tell me how their day went. When I do want to go out, I have to make arrangements for the children and this has to be worked in to someone else's schedule. I feel pretty good about it and find it rewarding to watch my children grow and learn. Sometimes, when things have been unusually stressful, I get resentful of having all the demands on me with no time for myself. Personal liberty is such a subjective topic that each woman interprets it differently, in a way that is unique to her.
Nothing throttles independence like a corporate job and the feeling of being a rat in a maze.
I think it would be neat if I could get on a plane and go to New York, do small negligible things. But I'm not in my twenties anymore, when you need those wild lashes into freedom. The restrictions would only be a problem if they went on and on, until I was 45 or 50. Motherhood asks new questions of a woman, tests her beliefs and values and, by doing so, offers her the opportunity to know herself more completely. How she views the issue of independence while she cares for her children at home is determined by her individual temperament, personality and spirit.