Nancy P Vargas "I Stand Here Ironing"

In the story "Stand Here Ironing", Olsen describes the worries a mother has about her life. “Ironing" represents a metaphor illustrating how the protagonist is standing stagnant as she monotonously moves back and forth in her life. The mother is the protagonist in the story and she explains how she couldn’t be the best parent, especially for her daughter Emily because of her choices and responsibilities. In this case the mother explains how horrible her daughter's childhood was and that for long periods of time she couldn’t be with her because she was sick. Is that being a bad parent? I believe the reason that she sent her child to an institution is because her daughter needed it for special care. That would represent great parenting. The guilt the mother expressed made me wonder if she was not a good mother?After I finished reading the story, I realized that this is a common situation for many single women in today's society and the fact that this mother was feeling this way made me feel sad. The mother narrated the story as if she was directing her guilt and errors towards the father of her daughter.  The mother wonders if the choices that she made in her life had affected her daughter and is a very common feeling that people feel.Being a mother especially at young age is extremely difficult. In life when we make choices,  we sometimes carry that guilt for the rest of our lives,wondering if that was the best choice we made. This is true especially when it concerns your children. Even though she loved her daughter Emily, she knew that she didn’t make the best choices for her and that at times because of her obligations and responsibilities, she couldn’t be there for her as much as she wanted to. Facing reality for many of us is difficult. Knowing that sometimes we have to go day-by-day wondering how we can do better or how we shouldn't hurt our loved ones. In addition, as much as we may try, we may not always be able to give our loved ones exactly what they need.Sometimes we can get what we can, but what we know is that even though sometimes in our families we don’t have the “perfect picture” it doesn't mean that our children will have the same path. My question is; "Is everyone entitled to blame our choices for our lives?" DO we think that even though there are lot of single women in society that their children are going to be like them ?