“I Stand Here Ironing” uses stream of consciousness to examine the inherent difficulties of being a mother in the 1930s through 1950s. The piece begins with the narrator recalling a request someone has made of her: “I wish you would manage the time to come in and talk with me about your daughter. I’m sure you can help me understand her. She’s a youngster who needs help and whom I’m deeply interested in helping” (749). This is a well-meaning offer made by someone seeking to help Emily. However, the narrator’s response begins a chain of associative recollections revolving around the question, “Even if I came what good would it do? You think because I am her mother I have a key, or that in some way you could use me as a key?” (749). The narrator knows that she doesn’t have the answers that this person is seeking. Nevertheless, she herself wants to understand how Emily has gotten to the point where someone could see her as “a youngster who needs help” beyond what her mother can give.

As the narrator wrestles with the questions of what caused Emily’s plight and whether she can be helped, she considers several memories, but not necessarily in chronological order.