Summary

The mother of a 19-year-old girl reflects on her daughter's childhood while she does the ironing. Her thoughts are prompted by the request of a stranger, perhaps a teacher or counselor, who perceives the daughter, Emily, to be in need of help. The potential helper has asked the mother to "come in" to discuss her daughter's needs, and the mother imagines the conversation that might occur at this meeting as she irons.

She begins by questioning what good it will do to discuss her daughter with this interested stranger. She wonders why anyone would think that she has a key to Emily's psyche just because she is her mother. The mother also wonders where she is supposed to find the time to analyze the relative importance of occurrences in Emily's upbringing. If she begins to reflect, she knows something will interrupt...