Monday morning again
And I’m wondering
What if all the working women
We’re honest with their families
And stopped trying to do it all
Or even half of it

Maybe it’s just me…
But I doubt it

My son tells me repeatedly 
How much
He doesn’t want to go to school

He doesn’t want to listen 
To reason or think about
Anyone else’s perspective.

And after a Shingles vaccine 
On Friday
And keeping our
Camping date
On Saturday 

I’m wiped.

I never saw my mom
Taking any 
Personal days off.

I know now
That she did.

But what if 
I had known that
All along?

Would my ideas about 
Womanhood and careers
Have been different?

I remember her insisting 
That I go to my after school job
At the movie theater
When my cramps were so bad
I could barely stand.

The Midol wasn’t cutting it

My mother helped train me
To ignore my biology
In favor of the economy 
And others

(Just like she had been trained
In a world designed
By and for men)

I have so much unlearning to do.

I don’t want to ignore 
My biology anymore.

If the economy can’t handle
My biology,
Then that’s the economy’s 
Problem.

We don’t fix a problem
By ignoring it
And not talking about it

I have 57 Mondays left
Until my next
Career pivot

I’m taking this one
To help me prepare.

I’ll tell my son
After school