Dar Williams sweetly coos “When I was a boy…” on our car stereo. My 4 1/2 year-old, who has seen Dar on concert, asks, “Why did she say that? She’s a girl!” I chuckle and go on to explain that back when Dar & mommy were kids people would say that girls who liked to climb trees or play soccer (both activities she loves) were acting like boys. That people would tell them to act like a girl at a certain age and stop playing soccer. “Oh! Well I won’t listen to them and keep playing soccer!”

It’s all so natural to her and I couldn’t be more envious and proud. It makes me wonder what life will be life for her generation - the granddaughters of Title IX. With their neon pink softballs that aren’t pink to girlify the sport but because they just like the color. I think about this more than most because I have one of those jobs I hope is relegated to the history books in 20 years. My job is to keep women in their science or engineering major, to graduate with this valuable degree (starting salaries in engineering range between $20,000 - $40,000) and hopefully find their way back to academia to educate the next generation.

On this day after Mother’s Day I tip my hat to all the hard working mamas who are in fields even 15 years ago we never imagined. The explosion of WNBA mamas, the pregnant Defense Minister from Spain seen in the photo above observing her troops with her adorable baby bump in full view, Lindsay Davenport who has returned to pro tennis after her maternity leave, and Alaska’s governor who just had her fifth child, a son with Down’s Syndrome. As fellow working moms we know it’s never easy to balance our calling to raise the next generation and our need to work on our own projects. We’ve come a long way from Abigail Adams’ inability to directly influence the direction of our country and Elizabeth Cady Stanton being homebound during the beginning of the suffrage movement.

It takes my breath away to ponder what motherhood will look like for my daughter’s generation. I wish them one year of paid maternity leave, paid sick days, quality child care within walking distance of their offices, partners who wake up at 2 am to change diapers and a world that truly values the children they are raising.