Abstract
This article examined how middle-aged mothers who have young adult children feel about their experiences with childcare. Data collected in semi-structured interviews with 22 mothers were categorized and analyzed using a modified grounded theory approach. Many mothers began to rear their children in the way they thought would be best for the children based on "model mothers" they had read about. They often gave their children higher priority than they gave themselves. Occasionally, overwhelmed by a sense of obligation to take care of children, they took a self-centered approach to childcare. Having gained support from people close to them, having committed themselves to helping children handle problems, and having learned from their children as well as teaching them during the years they were raising them, in middle age recognized that during those years they had gained in maturity, as their children supported their individual initiatives and sought to emulate their way of life.
