"I Stand Here Ironing" is a story written about a young mother trying to be all she could be during the Great Depression. Being a mother myself, I know how much we all want give 100% and she could not do that causing her to feel like she failed herself as a mother and failed Emily, because Emily depended on her to take care of her needs. Times were tough during the Great Depression and Emily's mother had to work wherever and whenever she could and this meant she had to leave Emily with people that could not care for her the way her mother could. She felt like Emily was not being well-cared for when she left her but she was left with no other options because she had to go to work. It was not that Emily's mother was a bad mother. She was a good mother and although it did not seem like it, she did have Emily in her best interest.