“Where is Dad?” my three-and-a-half-year-old daughter asked the morning after we returned home from vacation. “He’s gone back to work,” I replied. “Oh,” she said, and then there was a pause, while the gears turned in her little head. Suddenly she announced, “Work is for hes.” “What!?” I gasped. “Work is for hes…for dads. Dads do work. Moms don’t go to work.”
Liz Stockwell
Liz Stockwell has a PhD in zoology from the University of Washington and lives in Burnaby, British Colombia. After experiencing the hectic pace of combined teaching, parenting, and academic life, she decided to be home with her two young children full-time. In her off-hours, she squeezes in writing projects (occasionally!) and enjoys exploring the forest and seashore with her family.
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Most Recent Articles
July 15, 2008
I've been away from teaching for four years now, since our relocation to the Vancouver area and the subsequent birth of my second child (events which happened within three months of each other--talk about pre-natal nesting anxiety!). But recently a sessional lecturer position for this coming fall opened up at my neighborhood university. The class, vertebrate biology, was right up my alley and I've taught some of the material before as a graduate student and as a lecturer. But somehow I didn't jump all over this opportunity like I would have five or six years ago.
June 25, 2008
I had two visitors this month, one expected—my dad—and other unexpected -- myself at age 11. It wasn’t exactly an encounter with a ghost from the past but a photo of me as a child asleep in my father’s arms. The image was a surprise in many ways. My father received it out of the blue from a friend he hadn’t seen in over twenty years, and my dad and I had no idea it existed.
June 3, 2008
Before our first child was born we prepared to be parents in ways that academics always prepare for big projects: extensive reading and research, lists of necessary equipment, plan for implementation (i.e., the birth plan), the “lab” organized (i.e., change table at proper height, clean diapers and wipes within optimum reach).
May 13, 2008
Last month my son’s first grade class did a unit on plants, seeds, and fruits. When his teacher sent home an assignment to collect a dozen different kinds of seeds, I was more excited than my son was. Since I was a little girl, I’ve collected seeds and seedpods from all over the world, and I offered to lend my collection to the classroom.
May 6, 2008
This is the first posting from Susan Bassow, Dana Campbell, and Liz Stockwell. We are three biology PhDs who deviated from an academic track to care for our children full-time. We’ll take turns posting or sometimes write together. Liz starts us off…
