--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Parenting can be established as a…" description: "\"Parenting can be established as a time-share job, but mothers are less good \"switching off\" their parent identity and turning to something else. Many w..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e80/terri-e-apter-30098_ability_parenting-can-be-established-as-a-time-s_2042854.jpg" --- # Parenting can be established as a time-share job, but… ![“Parenting can be established as a time-share job, but mothers are less good "switching off" their parent identity and turning to something else. Many women envy the father's ability to set clear boundaries between home and work, between being an on-duty and an off-duty parent… Women work very hard…” quote by Terri E Apter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e80/terri-e-apter-30098_ability_parenting-can-be-established-as-a-time-s_2042854.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e80/terri-e-apter-30098_ability_parenting-can-be-established-as-a-time-s_2042854.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e80/terri-e-apter-30098_ability_parenting-can-be-established-as-a-time-s_2042854.jpg) > “Parenting can be established as a time-share job, but mothers are less good "switching off" their parent identity and turning to something else. Many women envy the father's ability to set clear boundaries between home and work, between being an on-duty and an off-duty parent… Women work very hard to maintain a closeness to their child. Father's value intimacy with a child, but often do not know how to work to maintain it.” [Terri E Apter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terri-e-apter/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Mothers often struggle to detach from parental identity, while fathers more easily set work‑life boundaries, affecting family intimacy. **In simple terms:** Mothers find it harder to switch off parenting. Key Takeaway Establish clear personal boundaries. Themes parenting gender roles work‑life balance identity Mood empathetic thoughtful Type advice reflective When to use this quote - career planning - family time - self‑care - relationship building Key Concepts boundary setting role negotiation Questions to Reflect On - How can mothers create healthy boundaries? - What support helps fathers stay emotionally available? A Different Perspective Cultural expectations may pressure mothers to be constantly present. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Ability](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ability/) [Boundaries](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/boundaries/) [Children](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/children/) [Clear](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/clear/) [Closeness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/closeness/) [Duty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/duty/) [Duty Parent](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/duty-parent-3028899/) [Envy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/envy/) [Father](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/father/) [Hard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/hard/) [Home](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/home/) [Identity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/identity/) [Intimacy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/intimacy/) [Job Mothers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/job-mothers-3811731/) [Jobs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/jobs/) [Know how](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/know-how/) [Knows](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/knows/) [Mother](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mother/) [Parent](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/parent/) [Parent Women](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/parent-women-3811730/) [Parenting](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/parenting/) [Share](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/share/) [Switching](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/switching/) [Switching off](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/switching-off/) [Switching Parent](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/switching-parent-3811732/) [Values](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/values/) [Women Work](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/women-work/) ## Related quotes > [Many a cat can only be lured in by switching off all the lights and keeping very still. Until the indignant cry of a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pam-brown/many-a-cat-can-only-be-lured-in-by-switching-off-all-the-lights-and/) [Pam Brown](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pam-brown/) > [The effect on the planet of having one child less is an order of magnitude greater than all these other things we might do,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-guillebaud/the-effect-on-the-planet-of-having-one-child-less-is-an-order-of/) [John Guillebaud](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-guillebaud/) > [I'm quite good at switching off and sometimes I forget who I am in a character.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/luke-evans/i-m-quite-good-at-switching-off-and-sometimes-i-forget-who-i-am-in-a/) [Luke Evans](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/luke-evans/) > [to design means forcing ourselves to unlearn what we believe we already know, patiently to take apart the mechanisms behind our reflexes and to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alain-de-botton/to-design-means-forcing-ourselves-to-unlearn-what-we-believe-we/) [Alain de Botton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alain-de-botton/) > [But I really can't and I actually don't like switching off because I worry that I might lose my thread, or something. I fall…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kate-winslet/but-i-really-can-t-and-i-actually-don-t-like-switching-off-because-i/) [Kate Winslet](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kate-winslet/) > [When I was playing Dracula I had to switch off from the reality and fall into this fantasy world. Otherwise I just couldn't cope…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/luke-evans/when-i-was-playing-dracula-i-had-to-switch-off-from-the-reality-and/) [Luke Evans](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/luke-evans/) > [Over analyse, paralyse, you mustn't over analyse... Do you wake up at four in the morning and wonder who should be playing left-back? Four?…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roy-keane/over-analyse-paralyse-you-mustn-t-over-analyse-do-you-wake-up-at-four/) [Roy Keane](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roy-keane/) > [The elimination of the will altogether and the switching off of the emotions all and sundry, is tantamount to the elimination of reason: intellectual…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/the-elimination-of-the-will-altogether-and-the-switching-off-of-the/) [Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/) > [Switching off perfection switched on the human quality](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/questlove/switching-off-perfection-switched-on-the-human-quality/) [Questlove](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/questlove/) > [When a woman gives birth to a child, the child needs to be able to digest the mother's milk; but when this child is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marvin-harris/when-a-woman-gives-birth-to-a-child-the-child-needs-to-be-able-to/) [Marvin Harris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marvin-harris/) > [“Our job as mothers is to do the best we can to teach our children that life is better and friendships are richer when…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/melanie-shankle/our-job-as-mothers-is-to-do-the-best-we-can-to-teach-our-children/) [Melanie Shankle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/melanie-shankle/) > [That is, we believed, the supreme duty of the parent, who only was permitted to claim in some degree the priestly office and function,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/that-is-we-believed-the-supreme-duty-of-the-parent-who-only-was/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [What is the most important duty? One's duty toward one's parent.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/giuseppe-mazzini/what-is-the-most-important-duty-one-s-duty-toward-one-s-parent/) [Giuseppe Mazzini](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/giuseppe-mazzini/) > [Visualize the accomplishment of your everyday goals, and praise yourself each day for your hard work; never let a day pass without glorifying yourself…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kemmy-nola/visualize-the-accomplishment-of-your-everyday-goals-and-praise/) [Kemmy Nola](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kemmy-nola/) > [“My dear!” I remonstrated, in allusion to the epithet and the vigorous emphasis Miss Jellyby set upon it. “Your duty as a child—” “Oh!…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-dickens/my-dear-i-remonstrated-in-allusion-to-the-epithet-and-the-vigorous/) [Charles Dickens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-dickens/) ## More by Terri E Apter > [Adolescents swing from euphoric self-confidence and a kind of narcissistic strength in which they feel invulnerable and even immortal, to despair, self-emptiness, self-deprecation. 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If the anger is notacknowledged then its…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terri-e-apter/adolescents-do-get-very-angry-with-their-parents-and-acknowledging/) [Terri E Apter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terri-e-apter/) > [This is the hope of many adolescent girls--to capture a parent's heart with love for them as they are, as people. They reject thenotion…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terri-e-apter/this-is-the-hope-of-many-adolescent-girls-to-capture-a-parent-s-heart/) [Terri E Apter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terri-e-apter/) > [The adolescent does not develop her identity and individuality by moving outside her family. She is not triggered by some magic unconscious dynamic whereby…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terri-e-apter/the-adolescent-does-not-develop-her-identity-and-individuality-by/) [Terri E Apter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terri-e-apter/) > [It is not however, adulthood itself, but parenthood that forms the glass shroud of memory. 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