I'm fine with women being stay at home moms or working CEO's :-) Life is about exploring our selves and making choices that fit us. Having the freedom to do that is a luxury some women before us have fought for. Hard. That means now women can choose to not work, work, be a mom, not be a mom. Many didn't have that choice before. I don't even care what's the 'profit' of that for society or economy - I'm very much pro-individualism. You should be able to make choices even if they don't make economical or societal sense. Die happy and unsuccessful is you want :D

I also believe the 'happy mom' story is partially a lie - I unfortunately know many unhappy moms, and although a few are from my generation and we can wonder what it is within our generation that makes moms feel so miserable, I also know my own mother wasn't happy often. She was especially jealous of my father who had a life outside of the house, at some point disliking him because he had dinner with his colleagues or being able to watch a soccer match.

She always loved being a mom by the way, and she quit working when I was born because she didn't want to miss a second of bringing us up, but that doesn't mean she didn't feel isolated, alone, and like her brain melted down to a puddle of mud that was only thinking of dinner plans and when her husband finally would come home :')

She started studying and working when my brother and I were old enough and felt relief and more individuality again. She likes the work she does until today and I'm happy she was able to build a part of her personality that wasn't there when she was 'only' a mother.

Well, that's just one story of course, and some people are able to combine motherhood with another identity and feel amazing or are even able to feel accomplished or whatever by 'only' being a mom. I'm glad they do. I'm also glad we're living in an age where 'old school' mothers can live and 'modern school' mothers as well.

As I said, whatever anyone does doesn't have to serve a bigger purpose, it only should serve you and how you want to live your life.

Can't wait till you are able to make self-portraits with your kid, that might be an awesome challenge I'd love to witness :D