Should Working Moms Feel Guilty? The Daily Mail Says Yes.

What a vile, selfish thing the working mom is, depriving children of love and shunning her natural maternal instincts.

The Daily Mail looks at this old chestnut and says that we’ll be surprised by the answer. But we’re not.

Louise Chunn, former editor of InStyle, reveals her experiences as a working mom. She had two kids and had to immediately returned to work, because she had to tow the party “line”. Which party? I’m guessing the man-and-fun-free feminist bash.

Part of me doggedly believed I had to stick to my ‘line’ – that work gave me independence, adventure and, of course, money. But I have to admit that another part didn’t want to examine what the effect of more than 20 years of working motherhood had had on my children.

When she splits with their father, and journalism became “less about creative fulfillment and more about paying my way.” She employed nannies from around the world to care for her poor, deserted darlings. Louise met a new man, had a child with him and now freelances from home.

It’s obvious, perhaps, but what I give them now, which I rarely could before, is my attention. Yes, I would spend time with Issy [youngest daughter] while she practised piano in the morning, but one eye was always on the clock  -  and my brain was already well into combat mode for the office.

What about Issy’s father? I assume it is his job which allows Louise the leisure of hanging with her kids all day. Perhaps he is a terrible dad and Issy doesn’t want his attention? Or maybe her mother is so super duper special that he just can’t compare?

At Good Housekeeping I would rarely be home before 7pm, usually still tapping something into my BlackBerry as I walked in the door.

What? She didn’t return home from work until the evening! So the only time these kids had with their mom was at night, on the weekends and movie night every Friday, “for which my mother would forgo all work events,” according to her daughter.

At InStyle, I was away for two to three weeks every six months, staying in ritzy hotels, watching fashion shows, sharing a bottle of wine with my fellow magazine friends at the end of a hard, long day – but not seeing Issy for days and nights on end.

I wouldn’t deny any other woman the chance to step into my working-day stilettos, but I would whisper: ‘Are you sure that it’s the right thing to do for everyone – children and husband included – and not just you?’