Rhonda Massengill "I Stand Here Ironing" by Tillie Olsen

“I Stand Here Ironing” by Tillie Olsen was a story about being a single parent. Being a single parent during the time when women had very little rights was hard. Women were force to put their children in daycares which weren’t up to standards. They had to work long hours to make up for the wage differences that men could make.
Emily is the little girl that is thrown from one home to another. The first problem this little girl suffers from is the lost of her dad. Her dad decides to leave because he can’t handle the demands of being a parent. The mother is forced to find a job and Emily has to stay at a neighbor’s house. Finally the mother finds a job working at night and she sends Emily to stay at her dads’ house. In the mean time the mother is trying to get enough money to be able to get her daughter back. Finally she gets the money and the child is two years old. The child returns to her mother’s home but life is not easy for her. She is subjected to a terrible daycare where the teacher is verbally abusive to the children. Her mother’s hands are tied and she ignores the abuse. Her daughter continues to stay in the daycare till she goes to school. Next her mother ends up pregnant and while she is giving birth to her sister Emily is left at the house by herself. She ends up with the measles and at the time she needs her mother her mother isn’t there for her. She is running a high fever and she calls out for her mother but her mother says she will be okay. She doesn’t go to comfort her child in fear her baby sister will get the measles. This is the beginning of a lifetime of sibling rivalry among Emily and her sister Susan. Emily feels she will never be good enough. From this point on Emily has learned not to rely on her mother. She learns to seek approval by other people and focuses on her appearance. She ends of using comedy to cope with her lifestyle. She is loved by her audience and rebels against education. She decides to throw away her life as student and focuses on her life as an entertainer.
Mother finally realizes she has can't change time and her relationship with her and Emily is permently destroyed. She will not be able to undo all her misfortunes and she must learn from her mistake. This is why she is dedicated at the end to be a good mother and house wife. With the help of her new husband she is able to give the other children the life she has longed for Emily.