Ellen Galinsky Quotations

Cultural expectations shade and color the images that parents-to-be form. The baby product ads, showing a woman serenely holding her child, looking blissfully and mysteriously contented, or the television parents, wisely and humorously solving problems, influence parents-to-be.

Parenthood brings profound pleasure and satisfactions--the unparalleled pleasure of caring so intensely for another human being, of watching growth, of reliving childhood, of seeing oneself in a new perspective, and of understanding more about life.

In a study that I just did, I found that it was older children, not younger children, who felt that they didn't have enough time with their parents.

The colicky baby who becomes calm, the quiet infant who throws temper tantrums at two, the wild child at four who becomes seriousand studious at six all seem to surprise their parents. It is difficult to let go of one's image of a child, say goodbye to the child a parent knows, and get accustomed to this slightly new child inhabiting the known child's body.

It gives us more flexibility, so we can do more, but it also creates the expectation of the instant response. It can take away your sense of control over your time.

In families children tend to take on stock roles, as if there were hats hung up in some secret place, visible only to the children. Each succeeding child selects a hat and takes on that role: the good child, the black sheep, the clown, and so forth.

Most of these changes that make work really work for employers and employees appear to be here to stay. In no case was there a statistically significant decrease in flexibility now offered.

When you feel pressured and pushed, when you feel not respected, when you feel tension at work, when you feel the work that you do isn't of real value, that leads to overwork. Sizable portions of the U.S. work forces have these feelings.

We are seeing a workplace in transition, shifting from models that served the needs of the 20th century to those that serve the needs of the 21st century--and most of these changes that make work 'work' for employers and employees appear to be here to stay.

What this finding reflects is the dissonance of today's reality and yesterday's old ideas. There's the assumption that family for women detracts from work while for men it supposedly enhances their viability and stability.