Conflict with my parents and wife revolve around my being the only one who figured this out.<\/p>\n
\nIf managing the demands of working and parenting in the 21st century feels impossible, Christine M. Beckman and Melissa Mazmanian argue, that\u2019s because the ideals that many working parents subscribe to are impossible to fulfill.<\/p>\n<\/div>\nThree core myths animate much of American life, according to Beckman and Mazmanian, professors at the University of Southern California and UC Irvine, respectively. The first myth, they explain in their recent book,\u00a0Dreams of the Overworked: Living, Working and Parenting in the Digital Age<\/i><\/a>, is that of the \u201cideal worker,\u201d who \u201chas no competing obligations that might get in the way of total devotion to the workplace.\u201d The second is that of the \u201cperfect parent,\u201d who \u201calways puts family first.\u201d And the third is that of the \u201cultimate body,\u201d which is cultivated through diligent dieting and exercise, and doesn\u2019t deteriorate with age. \u201cAchieving even one of these myths would be impossible,\u201d Mazmanian told me in an interview, \u201cbut achieving all three is ludicrous.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n