Mothering in a Pandemic

In this piece in the Boston Review, I point out the ordinary but tragic choices facing parents — mostly mothers — as they care for children during the pandemic. Mothering work has been mostly invisible during the COVID crisis, as it usually is. But the pandemic has made the job both harder to do (with schools and day care closed) and more socially important. Children are suffering tremendous (and often unacknowledged) stress right now, and consistent, hands-on parental care is the best buffer.