My mom was a nurse. When I was in 1st and 2nd grade, I remember her working night shifts. By the time I was in 5th grade, she started working as a school nurse, which she loved, and which she did until she retired decades later, after which she still subbed from time to time, into her 80s.
She was one of the few working mothers when I was in grade school.
Nonetheless, she had some pretty traditional views. When I was in nursing school myself, I remember taking delight in knowing something that some med student friends of mine had not yet learned. I was bragging about this, and my mother cautioned me to keep that to myself because men didn't like women showing off their intellect.
Although not in those words because I didn't use it at the time, I thought a cleaner version of, "Fuck that BS."
I was expected to, and did, help my mother clean the house every Saturday. My brother's only household task was to help empty wastebaskets.
My father changed jobs several times, always looking to advance. He never asked for her input about any of those decisions. We moved 7 times by the time I was 12. That's a lot if you're not in the military.
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