When you get to travel for work, as I do, there are plenty of perks. Pillow menus, buffet breakfasts, having someone else make your bed.
And, still, there are plenty of times when I’ve been made to feel as though my choice to travel for work, even when it’s vital to perform my role, somehow makes me a bad mother.Recently, I travelled from Melbourne to Sydney for six nights to attend Australian Fashion Week, double the number of nights I’d previously left my toddler.
My husband also travels for work, and far more frequently than I do. I am willing to bet no one asks him who has our daughter , or how I will cope with his being away . Yet almost every time I leave the house for more than a few hours, I get asked these questions by friends, colleagues and strangers.
In asking these questions, we’re also “gatekeeping” men – and anyone else who could step up on the caregiving front – from taking more responsibility, which reinforces the idea that they can’t, shouldn’t or needn’t, says Marg Rogers, a senior lecturer in early childhood at the University of New England.