I Stand Here Ironing

Question one in our literature books on page 289 asks us, "...In light of social, political,and economical changes that have occurred since the 1930's, do you think the events the story presents could occur today? Explain."

Emily was put into a convalescent home at a young age, also having to stay with relatives or be in the care of a sitter and just not see her mother enough. This was due to her mother being a single mother and having to make ends meet in any way that she could, which happens a lot today with the single mothers of our country, but the difference today is that we have a social service system better designed to suit the needs of those single mothers, providing day care assistance and we also have a system better designed for the quality and care that children receive while they are in daycare. When I look at the places that Emily was sent to while her mother couldn't care for her, it makes me think of our present day wealthy working Americans. There are many wealthy hard working Americans that send there children off to expensive preparatory schools and boarding schools of the like because they work too much and don't have the time to care for them. So, I suppose I would say that an answer to this question, in my own eyes, would be yes. These situations do happen in our modern society but in different ways. Our system of support had greatly increased to benefit the family setting and keep children with there families, but the situation of sending children away still occurs. It's just different dynamics.