Jennifer Egan Quotes

We are all trying to balance our careers and children and give as much of ourselves and our time to them. You work and have a husband, and projects, and friends. It is a balancing act.

I think the hardest thing about making music now is being a great dad at the same time. There's an insanity that goes with writing - a mad scientist thing that you have to go through - and sacrificing a kid's upbringing to do that is not an option.

Being a mom is hard, I think a lot of working moms feel that way.

By the time I get done with my fans and my music and my kids and my family and my fiance and my horses, well, they suffer too, but, I don't really have much time left to do anything else.

Working mothers' laughter comes hardest when our double life is revealed for what it is: a juggling act in which the balls can drop at any time, invariably on our own head.

It's a taboo that comes back over and over, to suggest that women can feel divided - that you can love your child and want to do everything for it, and at the same time want to put it away from you and reclaim something of yourself.

Until you go through with it yourself, you simply can't imagine it. But it is the transition of going back to work and the guilt of how much time you spend with your child that's hard. I worry about not getting back in time for bath-time. I am not a neurotic person at all, but every time the mobile rings, my stomach leaps.

I only have so much energy, so something had to go. This is why, at the end of the day, I've preserved my sanity for the children and also manage to do my best at work.

The only thing that I stress out about is, how am I going to make sure that I balance out my time for motherhood?

I think, as a working mother, what is more challenging for me is that I get to balance both work and home and prioritise my kid's life.

I feel such a sense of empowerment being a mom. But I do wonder: How do they/we do it all?

It's a new skill to have two children that want you at the same time.

I don't see how a woman in documentary photography could have children. I think it's a very difficult thing to do to raise a family, and I have enormous respect for people who do it. I'd hate to do something like that and not be good at it.

The balancing act of motherhood and a career, and being a wife, is something that I don't think I'll ever perfect, but I love the challenge of it.

My husband is always telling me I need to do less, do less, do less. But I feel like if I'm not being productive, I have a hard time relaxing and enjoying myself.

Being a mother is more exhausting than working, and sometimes I push myself too hard and burn myself out. I can appreciate how exhausting it must be for women who have to do everything themselves all the time.

I work, and then whenever I have any other time, I'm with my daughter, and then I go to sleep. I think you basically have to abandon the dreams of having any other adult activities in your life. You have to go to sleep whenever your child goes to sleep. That's basically how we're doing it.

You cannot be the perfect wife, the perfect mother, and the perfect actor all at the same time.

I'm one of those actresses that really enjoys staying home with my children. To be told you've got to get to work, it is just unbelievable what it does to you.

When you're a stay-at-home mother you have to pretend it's really boring, but it's not. It's enriching and fulfilling, and an amazing experience. And then when you're a working mother you have to pretend that you feel guilty all day long.

Very few women manage to have it all; certainly not all at once.

Mothers are the heart of any household. I try to spend as much time with my children as I possibly can while also fulfilling my professional duties. It is tricky, but I think I manage it.

Nothing comes before my children. I find that putting everything else in order of importance also helps to get everything done.

What is free time? I'm a single mother. My free moments are filled with loving my little girl.

As a working mum, it's really hard to find time in the day to just relax and take a break. I am constantly on the go.