MIT prof puts crib in his office to help grad student with baby
https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/2021/06/18/mit-professor-crib-lab-mother..."The Cunninghams live in student housing, and the on-campus day-care center was shut down during the pandemic. They didn’t have relatives living nearby who could pitch in. Steve Cunningham taught his middle-school math classes online and could usually care for Katie while his wife was doing research in the lab, but there were times when he had to attend meetings.
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Karen Cunningham’s biology lab professor, Troy Littleton, thought perhaps Katie could spend some time in the lab, so he asked the other nine graduate students who work with Cunningham whether they’d like to help him buy a travel crib for her.
“When we have new fathers or mothers in the lab, we usually have a baby shower and everyone pitches in on a gift,” Littleton said. “We couldn’t have a shower for Karen due to the pandemic, but we all agreed that a portable crib would be the perfect gift.”
Once everyone who worked in the lab had received their coronavirus vaccinations, he told Cunningham she could set up the crib in his office so she’d have a safe place for her daughter to nap or play while she was in the lab.
“Child care in any profession is a challenge, but in science, it can even be more challenging,” said Littleton, 54, who has an adult son and has taught at MIT for 21 years. “Experiments don’t always fit a 9-to-5 schedule. It just made sense for Karen to bring Katie in.”...(more, including cute pics, at link) 🥰👩🦲
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I was so lucky. During the years I was giving birth to my family I worked at a medical school in the pediatric department. My first son had a lot of ear infections and I could not take him to daycare, so I brought him to work with me. I had my own office, so it wasn't a problem. The chairman of the department would often take him to meetings with him so I could get work done, although he was promptly returned to me if he needed a diaper change.
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