Barbara “Bobbi” Newman
Senior Software Engineer, USA
Mother of one: one youth
Excerpt from Bobbi’s essay (p. 102)
“Recently, she [my daughter] showed me how much it means to her to be included in the things I do. My boyfriend and I took her Brownie troop out to the airfield to see the planes we fly. We let them sit in the planes and talked about what it was like to be a pilot. Before we went out to the field, we met with the girls to talk about safety issues. I hardly got a word in edgewise; my daughter kept raising her hand to explain one point or another.
… I’m not always sure if I’m doing the right thing by including her in some of my activities rather than focusing strictly on her in our free time. I guess I have my answer.”Why she wanted to contribute her story to the book: The project was, in some ways, an outlet for me. There’s a lot about my story that I’d like to tell. There is a misconception out there that because someone is a single mother, she is automatically a low-income earner, or dependent on someone else for support. Oddly, I have also found that, in recent years, there’s been increased pressure to be a stay-at-home mother. This was a chance to say out loud that I’m a working mother and this works well for us. Naturally things are often rushed because both my daughter and I are so busy. But even with my working full time, my daughter and I can still have a positive relationship. This is due in part to the flexibility and acknowledgment of the professionals around me at EMC.
