Every Mother's Dilemma

The Oprah Winfrey Show | January 23, 2007

Now that her maternity leave is over and she is back working at 20/20, Elizabeth has more time for her family than she would if she were still at World News Tonight. But she is still a working mother—which inevitably means she feels pressure and guilt that she's not doing enough.

"I love my job but I always feel like I'm not doing everything the way I would be if I didn't have all these other responsibilities," she says. "To be brutally honest, I think I spend 90 percent of my days feeling like I'm never getting anything done quite right."

Between anchoring and meetings, Elizabeth squeezes in time with her 4-year-old son, Zachary, who occasionally comes to work for a visit. And like many working moms, she says she's wracked with guilt.

"I wish I could do it all, but that's not physically possible. I have a sleepless night every night. I wake up at two o'clock and worry: Am I being a good enough mother? Was 20/20 going to be a good show? Should I have done more? Should I have been at the school play? I leave early in the morning and I get home at dinnertime and no matter how many times you ask your 4-year-old how was your day, you know you're aware of the fact that you've missed 98 percent of their day because you've been at work."