That book BOTHERED me even as a child. It didn't occur to me then that it would or could be a metaphor for motherhood, but I felt awful for the tree, giving itself away and dismantling itself in the process. As a parent, and looking at it in that light, it bothers me even more. Gah.

Even if I put aside personal feelings about self-worth and individual self-care, there's a very good reason that you're instructed to put your own air mask on before you help anyone else. If you've got no resources to sustain yourself, you can't care effectively for anyone else.