I grew up in a small town where the elemen-tary school was a ten-minute walk from my houseand in an age,not so long ago,when childrencould go home for lunch and find their motherswaiting. At the time, I did not consider this a luxury,although today it certainly would be. I took it forgranted that mothers were the sandwich-makers,the finger-painting appreciators and the homeworkmonitors. I never questioned that this ambitious,intelligent woman, who had had a career before Iwas born and would eventually return to a career,would spend almost every lunch hour throughoutmy elementary school years just with me. I grew up in a small town where the elemen-tary school was a ten-minute walk from my houseand in an age, not so long ago, when childrencould go home for lunch and find their motherswaiting. At the time, I did not consider this a luxury, though today it certainly would be. I took it forgranted that mothers were the sandwich-makers, the finger-painting appreciators and the homeworkmonitors. I never questioned that this ambitious, intelligent woman, who had had a career before Iwas born and would eventually return to a career, would spend almost every lunch hour throughout my elementary school years just with me.