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Karen opens this sequence by claiming that she has had a very stressful long
weekend (L186-190). She suggests that, on this occasion, prioritizing her self-needs were
more important than her family’s demands (lines190-191) and Jan and Emma echo her
sentiments (L192-198). Karen’s comments suggest that for these teachers, professional
and family roles leave little room for the self as an individual. Karen’s complaints cue a
conversational sequence in which the women jointly construct a narrative account of their
domestic demands.
Jan discursively presents voice of the ‘organized’ working mother, someone who
in her spare time takes care of the house, the finances and also organizes things for the
children to do (L201-204). This prompts a discussion that focuses on the weekly
shopping-trip, a job that cuts into personal time and needs to be organized (line 207). The
women's talk in this interaction shows evidence of the demanding roles they are required
to play as working mothers. The stress in being able to juggle these roles is clear in Jan's
comment about collapsing with a ‘bottle of wine’(L214). As noted Jan’s contribution
voices the persona of the ‘organized’ mother (lines 210, 212 & 217) someone who is
devising strategies to cope with all the demands of a busy professional. Although, as
Karen’s discursive resistance suggests this is not always a scenario actually enacted by
the women. The women appear to be discursively playing with a range of options
available to them, as if moving through a social script, taking up at times complementary
positions in relation to Jan's suggested strategies (lines 201-207), and at other times
resisting her suggestions (L216). In voicing a range of options available to them they are
able to discursively work through some of the stressful demands of their lives.
Convention