We have all been children at one time, and most of us can remember times when our parents had to leave us with someone else to go somewhere. Many of us had parents that worked, so we were left somewhere every day. This story identifies the disconnect that can occur between mother and child when it is necessary to leave the child each day, emphasizing that it is not always possible to repair the damage done thereby. The mother in "I Stand Here Ironing" was one such parent to Emily, who is now 19 years old. As the mother stands ironing, she reflects upon how she had to leave Emily to go to work every day, remembering the look on Emily's face that made it clear that her days at the center were harsh and desolate, with no one to fend for her. Emily's father was gone, and the mother had no choice; she could not hold a job and keep a five-year-old daughter with her at the same time.
Unlike most of us, though, Emily had a much harder time of it. Essentially institutionalized, which is what one can term the leaving of a child in a strict and unsympathetic institution where there is no love to be found, Emily withdrew more and more into herself. Her mother, although she loved Emily, was overwhelmed with the demands of poverty and work and was once reminded that she should smile more often at her little girl. Emily devised excuses to stay home so that she would not have to go to school, but despite all her attempts to connect with her mother and
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