In this article, the author shares the difficulties she faced as she tried to reach a balance between her career as a scientist and her role as a mother. She speaks of how she often found problems in putting her children into day care centers. She also relates that the confidence mothers have in their academic careers is correlated to the quality of their children's care. She argues that academic institutions should provide the necessary infrastructure scientist-mothers need in order for them to succeed. She suggests that universities must make major changes to make motherhood and science more professionally compatible in order to encourage women to succeed in academic science.