"I Stand Here Ironing"

I do think the narrator feels guilty about who her daughter has grown to be, but she feels helpless with how to change this. Emily's mother was left with no other choice but to leave her daughter here and there in order to work or look for work, since her husband had left them. When she could not afford to take care of Emily, she would leave her with family until she could afford to come get her. Soon, she felt like she barely knew her daughter. The narrator also felt bad for leaving Emily with the "evil" lady at nursery school. In her mind she knew emily did not want to be there, but it was the "only way they could be together" (page 284 paragraph 6). After she married again, the narrator and her husband would leave Emily home alone "telling ourselves she was old enough", even though Emily asked them not to go or go another time (page 285 paragraph 3). Then after her second child, Susan, was born Emily became ill with the measles and could not be with her mother or around her new sister. The narrator felt bad that she could not comfort Emily during this time. Eventually the narrator noticed Emily's resentment of her sister. How Susan seemed so perfect and smart. Emily seemed almost like she was an outcast next to her sister. Her mother felt guilty for all of these things, but felt that there was nothing she could do now. She felt like she had tried her best to raise Emily right at the time, but I think now she feels like she should have done more for her.
I think that the choices that the narrator made to keep her daughter healthy may have seemed like good ones at the time but later showed how growing up the way she (Emily) had, impacted her negatively. I did not have to experience living in this era, but I have heard stories about it from my grandmother. I felt sorry for both the narrator and for Emily because neither one of them deserved the tough life they were handed. I do not think that the narrator did anything purposefully to harm or neglect her daughter, it just happened because of how things were at the time.
I would not necessarily say the narrator was a good mother, at least not to Emily. I would not say she was a bad one either. She did the best she could, considering jobs were scarce and finances were limited. Being left a single mother during those times would definately be difficult. It is even difficult in this day and age. Some choices she made, like having more children, was not the best thing for a mother who could barely take care of her first born. Or even leaving Emily home by herself, I think she could have tried to work something out so she wasn't left alone. But she was a young new mother and did not really know any better. Knowing how things turned out for Emily did affect the narrator and how she felt about herself as a mother. As a mother myself, I know if I were in her shoes I would be quite upset with myself if this had been my daughter.