Sunday, August 5, 2007 - Page updated at 02:02 AM
E-mail article
Print view Share:
Digg
Newsvine
Day-care teacher, single mom
Special to The Seattle Times
Theresa Alfonso Mendez, 34, day-care teacher at Bright Horizons Boeing Family Center. Separated from her husband; single parent to Geneva, 12, and Christian, 10.
"I've been working since I was 14 — my mother taught me to earn my keep. I have always been involved in early-childhood education, and my children were able to attend the daycare centers where I worked. With both of them, I took four weeks of maternity leave and then was back on the job. When they were infants, I could breastfeed them during my 15-minute breaks.
I've worked in inner-city daycare centers where many of the children were from low-income families and in centers where the children were from more privileged backgrounds. I've come to realize that we all have the same issues ... you see you're not alone, that we all need to give each other support and advice in being a parent. After all, it doesn't matter how rich or poor you are when your child is having a meltdown in a store.
Even if I didn't have to work outside the home, I think I would. I enjoy being able to bring something to the children in my care — to share cultural experiences they otherwise might not have, to teach them to be sensitive to others. I think being a working mother sets a good example to my children, and in that same way I've tried to be active outside my job as well, like volunteering my time for community service."
Mary Rothschild is a former Seattle Times editor; she can be reached at hoffelt_rothschild@hotmail.com.
Copyright © 2007 The Seattle Times Company

Finding your work/life balance
Author Michelle Goodman serves up fresh tips & trends in the NWjobs.com Nine to Thrive blog.
- Grand Coulee Dam's immensity dominates Columbia River Basin | Only in Washington
- Some scented household products contain chemicals classified as toxic, UW study finds
- Privacy vs. border security: Critics say laptop searches cross the line
- Toll on new 520 bridge could be $6.85 round trip, state study says
- Search suspended for young girl distress caller
- Teen dead of apparent overdose | Local Digest
- They call this tax restraint? | Danny Westneat
- Water ride has patrons flashing while splashing
- Southcenter mall expands, regroups with new retailers
- Gates Foundation breaks ground
- Some scented household products contain chemicals classified as toxic, UW study finds
- Grand Coulee Dam's immensity dominates Columbia River Basin | Only in Washington
- Making the most of your produce
- Gates Foundation breaks ground
- Privacy vs. border security: Critics say laptop searches cross the line
- Council panel OKs bag fees
- Southcenter mall expands, regroups with new retailers
- Toll on new 520 bridge could be $6.85 round trip, state study says
- Ailing WaMu says it's making headway
- Look to legumes for protein that's affordable and delicious


