Way to go Salmon!
It's so great to hear that people at the conference were supportive. I've never taken my son to a conference but I've attended a few where parents received looks of scorn and comments like "It's only a few days..." with the implication that kids should be left at home. As a result, I skipped a lot of conferences in those early years. On the flipside, I have seen a few conferences that advertise daycare in recent years.
As far as the fraud issue. I think all of us on this sight hold ourselves to higher (perhaps impossibly higher) standards. At times we disappoint ourselves by just being human...having an off day or battling a perceived flaw (mine is chronic disorganization). My experience being a parent is that now I am a fraud on two fronts...academically and as a mom. Either job is hard enough, doing both well seems impossible. Of course, then I hear stories like yours and I feel that maybe it is possible. We just need to keep up the fight and make sure that our Universities and Societies are supportive of women and parents (men and women).
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Posted by Sulphur Siren to academicsecret at 8/14/2006 03:17:43 PM
