"I Stand Here Ironing"

"I Stand Here Ironing" explores the intense guilt of a mother who feels she did not live up to her duty as a mother. It is entirely possible that these events could occur in our world today. Single mothers face just as many challenges today as they did in the Depression era. It's not only much more costly to provide for a family, but the expectations put on parents to provide have only increased since that time period. Today, parents are faced with the pressures of providing name brand clothing, and the newest toys and games that most single parents are simply not able to afford, especially in these tough economic times that are being compared to that era.

Emily's mother states, "We were poor and could not afford for her the soil of easy growth. I was a young mother, I was a distracted mother. There were other children pushing up..." (Olsen 288) Emily's mother has not, in reality, done anything wrong. In this life, each of us can only aspire do our best with our children; this is an incredibly difficult task for anyone, but especially for a single mother of multiple children, struggling to provide. She has been a good mother to Emily. She states, "I used to try to hold and love her..." (Olsen 286) The best she could do is try.