Emi Kubota

This last year of my life has been both the most humbling and and the most gratifying year of my life.  I have carried, given birth to and cared for our now one-year-old daughter, Naomi (happy birthday today, Naomi!).  In order to do so, I have had so much support from my partner, Walsh; my mother, Becky (Bibi) and Naomi's BFF, Erica.  While there are so many others deserving of my appreciation, these 3 deserve major props.  Thank you for standing by me, believing in me and helping me when I needed it the most. During pregnancy, I developed an autoimmune disease that nearly crippled me, and now I am on a healing path.  For this I am extremely thankful.  I have been diagnosed with Dermatomyositis - inflammation of the skin and muscles.  It is a muscular dystrophy disease that destroys skin and muscle tissue.  While the problems I had with the skin on my hands were challenging (dry, cracking skin causing open cuts that had to be bandaged daily...

As my daughter is about to turn one, I have been reflecting a lot on the past year. My life is so different; I am so different; my perspective is so different. And I am so thankful that it is. I am in awe of all the women who have come before me - carrying babies in their bellies, birthing them, caring for them and turning them into future contributors in our global community. It is such a huge undertaking, and yet it is not only under-appreciated in the United States, but it is also barely recognized as a worthwhile pursuit or career. Becoming a stay-at-home mother in Japan is respected as a career choice for women and as a positive contribution to society at large. Economic reality for most of us in the U.S. is such that we have to be double income earners to make ends meet.  Or is that really the case? Could it be that women feel pressured to come back to the workplace as soon as possible to prove that they are valuable there?  I am not advocating that everyone stay at home...