Motherhood

* In “The Next Step for Motherhood” (Opinion, May 11) Rosalind C. Barnett and Caryl Rivers told us having a child “is no longer the utterly life-transforming event. It is simply an important event in the continuum of life.” According to them, the new kind of mothers, even when at home, feel “connected to the workplace.” Isn’t that wonderful?

As a six-year at-home mom, I am still waiting to encounter the “isolation, boredom and loss of freedom” as the lot of at-home parents. This article portrayed an at-home parent as stegosaurus, about to topple into an extinctive abyss. Actually, many support systems are in place for those of us old-fashioned enough to have had our life utterly transformed by the birth of our children. At least this depressing Mother’s Day piece made me appreciate our rich family life even more.

SUZANNA BORTZ

Laguna Niguel

* Isn’t it amusing and strange that every decade researchers slap a new label on the concept of motherhood, yet the needs of children have never changed?

PERLA KARNEY