After swanning around in lovely conferences (see my postings over the last two weeks), it was time for me to be the one taking over the parenting duties at the end of the Easter holidays in Leicestershire and at the beginning of the new school term. Naturally, in many other counties it was still the Easter holiday and the archaeological conference season was in full flow. I could not travel to Copenhagen to the NTAG where apparently my old friend Jens Ipsen was giving a paper. We have not seen for - oops - it must be almost decades, but the leaves of absence for conferences are reciprocal. My husband has some doubts about my feminist credentials, considering my avoidance of DIY, but I did show solidarity here.
Somehow it was fitting that part of the audience exited Phil's workshop From post excavation to après-feuilles in the Chartered Institute for Archaeology conference in Cardiff last week to attend the Glass ceilings, glass houses, or glass parasols? confronting issues of gender in the archaeological profession session. Looking at the programme he shared on his wall, I really should have been there to hear about Rachel Pope to speak about different issues on sexism, maternal and paternal rights and gendered networking and mentoring as well as Fiona and Ian Grants' paper on parenting as archaeologists with short contracts. It would have been interesting to hear if Menna Bell's paper was truly as positive as her abstract - or if it was just ironic. Nevertheless, these are important issues - not just for women, since men are parents, too.
I have again some time-management issues with deadlines, so if I disappear for a week, be patient, I am just working on archaeology and landscapes!
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