June 30, 2006
-
Working Mothers
When I was a child, my mom was at home. She worked side jobs here and there but for the most part she was what you would call a stay at home mom. I was sick a lot when I was a kid and would always enjoy the fact that my mom was at home to take care of me.
Do you think that mothers working outside the home is having a significant negative impact on children?
Comments (122)
Yes, I do.
Wow! #1 !
No, it matters how they handle it.
wow 2nd!
new record
Yes. When my mom went to work starting when I was in the 4th grade.. well it sucked, to say the least.
I think so.
Earlier I was like “It’s def. no big deal to be the first to comment or on the first page of comments” and now I know: I was definitely just thinking that ’cause I’ve never made it to the first page… YES!
No. I think parents who don’t take care of their kids has a more significant impact. And schools not emphasizing reading. And mothers who work at home as hookers that is really bad for the kids.
No.
not exactly ><
I guess children adjust to the lifestyle anyway. It would be different if the mother got a job later in the child’s life…then it might be harder to get used to.
It really does depend on the situation.
Yes I do, but I have the perfect job.. it’s part time and I get to take my kids with me to work and they never leave my sight!!
Yes. My mother was never home…and we’ve never had the greatest relationship because of iyt I believe. Who knows.
I believe that when children see their mothers do what they love to do along with loving them is a great balance and teaches them to strive for what they want to do!!!!!!!!
I’ve always fortunate enough too stay at home with my kids…..I wouln’t have it any other way.
Candy
Yes…that’s why when I have kids, I plan on staying home with them, at least until they are in school, and then I’ll go back to work, most likely part time, so that I can still be around whenever they need mom…
From my experiences, I would say no. My mother worked once my sister and I were in school, and we both turned out okay. I think the responsibility of letting myself into the house after school, doing some chores and starting homework actually made me a more self-reliant person. And my school work never suffered for it.
I think it does have an affect on children but it really depends. The mother has to be able make time and see the child OFTEN if not I’m sure they’re going to have some social development problems with the child. Escpecially in cases where a child is sent to many different relatives, or many different daycare centres. Children need to feel safe and loved.
No, My mom has worked outside of home since shortly after I was born. I’m normal, or as normal as I need be. I think that the real problem is the parents who don’t take care of their children, who neglect them and don’t show them the love that they need while they grow.
it’s amore handy at the ver least having someone there to take care of things, i wouldn’t go so far as to say it’s better, though
No. My mom has always worked my entire life. Maybe a mom who works from the crack of dawn to ten at night and never spends time with her kids would be negative, but a working mom has no “negative” affect, though it might be “different”. My mom worked and I turned out.. fine..
Positive, children need to learn to be independant as soon as possible
-Jacob
My mom used to stay at home, but ten she got a job about a year ago… It kinda helped me, given our family situation
yes i do. when both parents are out of the house during the early stages of childhood, the child usually goes to a day care center or other such things. now i have nothing against day care centers. both parents working has an impact because kids go through the early years with out much influence from their parents. they get dropped off at day care centers, and then start going to school and then next thing the parents know, their baby is off to college to face the world. and the realize that they didnt have as big of an impact on them as they had hoped. but thats just my 2 cents.
depends on who theyre left in the care of…
my mom took time off with me but for my younger brother she decided to go back to work, and i think he’s turning out fine. a little more independent.
It depends, but for the most part, no. Like, if the mother is around to have breakfast and dinner with her child on a daily basis, then that’s not so bad. But if she’s got a job where she’s only at home to sleep and not interact with her child or children, that’s problematic. Besides, there are laws that allow a mother to leave work early to pick up a sick child. And what about the father’s availability around his children?
ahh children need to learn how to be independent
my mom has been working outside of home since i was like…erm…ever. it alwas sucked when i was younger and was sick i had to go to my grandparents and mom would alwas be sorta mad the she was going to be late for work. but its ok now since i can just stay home by myself. but it would be nice to have someone around when i am sick.
***nicole***
YES it has an impact on the welfare of the children. But the SAME could be said of having the FATHERS working outside of the home as well.
no and im glad my mom didnt suffocate me
Yeah, I’d say so.
NO. I hate it when my mom stays home.
Yes. I’ve seen a lot of kids whos mothers worked and they are so attention starved, and they said that they only wish that their mothers had more time for them. Many girls my age don’t know how to be mothers and are scared to get married and have kids because they never learned how to be a mother.
Depends on the age they leave the home.
Kids age, not the mother’s.
I’m a stay at home mom and I honestly can’t answer that. I guess I could say that working parents give structure and always having a parent around leads to dependency. Or at least it seems to sometimes.
No. I was glad when my mom worked. Thank god she worked, or we would’ve run away.
I think a kid should grow up with a parent at home (from the time he or she leaves for school until they get home) until his or her mid teen years (16 on up). I should know I grew up with a single Mother who worked and I was the latch Key kid. I got into troubles when she was gone and I could have gotten into a whole lot more if I wanted to.
my mom works as a paramedic, so when i was younger we were always babysat. i really missed her alot and id even get depressed when shed be gone for days in a row. it really depends on the ammount of work, and the kind of care the child is given when the mother is away.
On average, I believe it results in less influence by people who really care for the child, but whether that is an overall negative for the child depends of course on the quality of the time spent with both parents and their other contacts. I would like to think that Mom cares more than everyone else and would work the hardest to have their kid turn out right.
I hope not or I’m in trouble…
it always kills me to see moms taking babies to daycare. BUT we have careers now etc.. and kids learn social skills that are needed for school that daycare and preschool prepares them for. I stayed home w/ both of mine until they were 3 then after that pre-school…it made a world of difference. your whole life is based on working w?other people. moms need to work to help support and keep their own sanity. kids eventually go to school anyways. this is just life.
No. I know stay-at-home-mothers who are horrific mothers and their children dislike them immensely, and I know working mothers who are fantastic mothers and have great relationships with their children.
Works both ways. It depends on the individual person, not whether they work or not.
no it’s the absence of fathers, or the absence of good fathers anyway, p
I think the amount of time the parent is away from the home is important in this discussion. As someone earlier said, if the parent is gone all day and night then there is likely to be a negative effect on the child or children.
On the other hand, my mother was always at home and I felt very sufficated and probably have not become as self-reliant as I could be and was not as well socialized as I could have been if I had been in a setting with many other children.
I think the ideal for me when I have children will be to work part-time so my children have some time with other children but still have mom more available than I might be if I was working full-time. As my children get older and more indepentant I think I may work more.
yes and amen. Infact, inside every man is the deep desire to provide, even if his wife makes more than he does, the desire never changes. And in some strange way the woman needs him to do the providing. In that same way the woman has a need to provide the emotional support for the household. I dont disagree with working mothers, but i do disagree with allowing your children to grow up emotionally backrupt. Both rolls need to be filled, and without one a family is incomplete.
Parents need to start raising complete chilidren, not broken ones.
Esther**
No, I believe kids are becoming more independent at an earlier age!
I don’t know about significantly negitive, but if it’s not necessary, I don’t think it’s the best idea. After the youngest child turned 3, my Mom started working part-time night shifts again, so she could be with us during the day. I remember being in kindergarten, and feeling so lucky and so glad that I had a mom to go home to, and I didn’t have to go to a day care like my friends. I think that by not having your mom there, you miss out on a lot of really great stuff. To this day, I’m glad I could go home and have Mom help me with my homework and teach me Chinese jumprope and show me how to make clothes for my teddy bear. They were very little things, but they made all the difference.
Yes. The kids I know whose mom went back to work during their infancy are having more trouble in school and aren’t as close to their parents, it seems. It depends on the situation, and how it’s handled, of course, but I believe parents should raise their own kids, instead of passing them off to day care, at least in the early years, before they go to school.
I stayed home with my kids while they were young precisely because I had a mom who worked, and was never there when we got home..and then she was so exhausted and still had to do all the laundry and all the other stuff, she didn’t have as much time for us and she was always crabby. She brought more work home, on top of that. She was home with me through Kindergarten, but then my younger brother went into daycare, and it was not a good thing for him – he needed her. He had a lot of emotional problems for many years, after she went back to work, and much trouble in school. I also was determined to be a stay-at-home mom while my kids were young because hubby was the one with the big career and traveled a lot. We lived nowhere close to family, so someone had to be there and stable for the kids. It was a conscious decision and a “sacrifice” I was glad to make – I didn’t feel like I was held back to take care of the kids. I wouldn’t have missed those years for the world.
I went back to work as a teacher when my youngest was in 3rd grade, after going back to school once she went to kindergarten. It has been difficult, but good for my kids, now that they’re older, to see mom having a respectable career and using her brain…and they’ve had to be more self-sufficient, which is good. And I’m home fairly early, and am able to be involved in their activities and lives. Then, of course, off weekends, holidays, summers. Kids need at least one stable parent who’s “there” for them. In our case,now I’m all they’ve got, period.
I tihnk kids should have one parent at home when they’re younger especially. My mom didn’t work for most of my life, but I was homeschooled, so it’s different I guess
Yes definetly.
The ppl i know whose moms work, dont know their parents like at all, and they dont fell close to them or nything. my mom has never worked, and its always been nice knowing she’d always be home…
it depends. My mom has always been working. But she’s not a workoholic, so it’s all good. She enjoys her work but knows that her first responsibility is to her family. Many many days she and my dad would take off work (not the same day of course) to be with me when I was sick or had a school holiday. So basically, as long as they keep their priorities straight, there’s no problem. However I would suggest the mom staying home with the kids until they all were in elementary school.
it could.
it depends on the situation.
No I don’t believe so
No, not really. It depends how the kid and the adult handles the situation.
I think it depends on the childcare situation and the parents. I have seen too many children in daycare from 7am-6pm…and the parents are too tired to deal with them and the kids don’t listen to them.
However, that being said, my mom was a single working mom. When I was really young, she was home with me – maybe till about 2? During my younger elementary school days, I was with my grandparents afterschool…my mom worked long hours during tax season months…but I don’t necessarily think I am defective because of it. I appreicate all that she has done for me.
I know my lack of presance in their lives is dammaging my kids. I’d do anything to be home with them.
I think it depends on the kid and the parenting style. Both my parents worked ever since I can remember, and it didn’t have a negative impact on me…but I’ve always been an independent person anyway. Some kids may need their parents around more than others.
It depends on how it’s handled and why the mom works outside the home.
No. I wasn’t raised in a family where the mother was home, but when I was a kid I always knew that the less parents at home at one time, the less set of rules I had to live by. I think there’s more stress on the mother than the child because she has to balance her career and family, more so than the father is often expected. Then again, I had a disabled stay-at-home father rather than mother so…
Unfortunately, I have to say it is negatively impacting our children. My mom was a stay at home mom until about fourth grade…maybe third. When she went back to work it was so hard for me. I became a latch-key kid and would go home scared and longing for her. I ended up spending time at the neighbors home. In high school it became worse and I felt completely neglected. In fact, my junior year, second semester, my boyfriend’s mom went to my parent-teacher conference with me. I spent a lot of time elsewhere and I think she thinks it’s because I didn’t want to be a part of the family. The truth was that I felt she abandoned me.
I think that kids want their mom OR dad to be home. I feel bad for kids who feel like a burden on their parents when they are off of school or sick from school. Parents have to scramble to cover child care and I think it makes kids feel unimportant or burdensome.
Now, of course, I stay home even though we make very little money. It’s not a luxury, it is a “sacrifice” we make so that our kids have mom. Our time will come when both of us will be working and we’ll have money to play with. Right now it’s all about creativity and fun.
Yes I do.
not at all. my mom has worked for my entire life and it’s never had an impact on me.
It depends on the mother. My mom worked out side and she turned out fine. I was always amazed at what she could do. She went to school, worked, took care of me and my brother, and she always made stuff from scratch when I needed stuff for school parties. We never ate fast food, or TV dinners either. I wanted to be like my mom b/c she was awesome. I always liked the day care centers I went to. I loved the field trips to mueseums and stuff. I don’t think it would have made a difference whether my mom took me or the day care center. I kind of liked being with kids my age and socializing. Besides, the older I became the more overbearing and restrictive my parents became. I wa glad for the time away from them. The way your kids turn out depends on who you are and how you treat them not on whether or not the woman worked. A man always working and never being there is equally detrimental.
Yeah, children are raising themselves. Look at feral cats once and see how no nurture works out.
Honestly? Yes. I’m not sure about the entirely significant part but something is definitely missing in their lives.
Yes. But not just mothers you know. Whenever the child has to go to a day care all day long or has a nanny, there’s a negative impact. But only if this is a lot of the time.
No, not at all. If anything I think it is the other way around.
yes, when its both parents, but no when perhaps the father or at least grandma or grandpa, some family member can be home to raise the kid. Its more kids getting stuck in day care.
BUT, before we go blaming the moms for this, the high cost of living necessitate that more parents be working. Just a fact many people are stuck dealing with.
We love mom, and if she has to work, its to keep the roof over me, the house warm, and food on the shelves.
not really. according to my psychology book (yes, once again) it doesn’t matter the quantity of time a mom spends with her child, but the quality. if she never spends time with the kid because she’s too busy with work, then yes that would be negative… but as long as she is spending some sort of time with them and the kid knows that the mom cares, there’s no negative effect.
Yes I do. It means that someone other than the mom is raising our children. That may be a nanny, a sitter, or other kids on the block; but whoever it is, the values of the parents are not being instilled into the children at their most impressionable age.
No and Yes. Let me explain. As a social worker at public schools, I see lots of ‘latch key’ kids that thrive, others that don’t. Having an adult mentor, whether at home, when Mom’s at work or just a phone call away makes the difference. I’ve always worked. And as a single parent I had to rely on others to care for my one and only son while I worked. Either a sitter or my Mother….he’s off to college this year…and although he never came home to an empty home, it hasn’t impacted him negatively that I work. And that’s all I have to say about that.
my mom works a lot, but that fact has made me look up to her even more.
I’d look at her working and be like, I want to be like that one day, an independant and successful woman.
I can’t help thinking about a letter I saw once from a mother who was a stay at home mom who had sacrificed her career and who wondered whether staying at home made much of a difference, since her children were much like the children of the moms who did work. I guess given all of the variables, one never really knows what is better.
I’m not sure myself. My mother was a stay at home mom for the first 10 years of my life, and then shortly after having my brother she started working. I remember being one of the ones who encouraged her to work, having been infected by the feminist ideals of the time. (of course I believe she also started working out of necessity) But maybe I liked it better when she was at home. When she started working, she seemed to have rather less emotional time for me and my brother. The upside is that my brother is fairly self reliant, more than I was at his age. I also became more self reliant. But I’d say that it is good thing for moms to be at home with the kids when they are younger. I don’t know if working makes a siginifcant negative impact. I hope not, because if/when i have kids that is probably what I’ll do.
I agree with wxcruiser. Very often circumstances make working moms necessary. They work not because they are selfish but because they love us.
yes
My mum didn’t work. She locked us in the basement while out with her friends. I think it would have been better if she had worked… we cooda had a proper baby sitter! My son’s mum didn’t work, but went out with her friends… I think it wooda been better if she worked and I minded the baby…
I was so excited to be #1 that I didn’t explain my answer. My folks divorced when I was 10 and my brother was 7. My mom went to school and work and was hardly ever home. My grandma lived with us, but also worked, sometimes 20 hrs. per day as a private nurse. However, she gave us a lot of emotional support. We saw my dad on weekends. My broher found a “family” in a band, and now is a professional musician. I found a “family” at church. God was watching out for us. Kids will find a “family” wherever they can. Unfortunately, for many it’s a gang, or a group of friends that are less than desirable. I stayed home with our children, even though it meant we had to get along with less material things, and work harder in other ways. I babysat other peoples’ children, and I was a good baby sitter, but I know I didn’t love and train those children like I did my own.
it’s the involvement factor. whatever mothers and fathers are doing, at least one parent should be home at a reasonable hour. it’s good for families to eat dinner together, etc. when parents are more involved in work than in family, children suffer. ha, i just saw the adam sandler movie click. it’s not a good movie, but parts of it upset me in driving home that same point- choosing work over family has consequences, as does any decision one makes in life.
Not always… depends on the job and the way the mom interacts with her kids when she’s not on the job. Stay at home moms could be just a negligent of their children, I think it just doesn’t happen as often since that’s usually kinda the point of staying home. But no, I really don’t think you can say that across the board. I do not really believe in daycares unless they truly are necessary, however once a child is school age I don’t see a problem with a career at all, especially if she can be there when the kids get home. It’s just a matter of recognizing you have two commitments and you need to be able to do each one well.
It is exactly what the family makes of it. My mom did not work outside the home. We weren’t very self-sufficient when we first became adults… My aunt owned a company, and we saw our cousins doing a lot for themselves.
One of the key points in both situations, is discipline. In both families, it was specifically spelled out what was expected of us, and we were good kids. Period.
It’s bad when the kids are little, because they might not have someone to call, and mom isn’t available to chaperone on field trips, or come in for awards things, or to get you when you’re sick, and if they have to become latchkey kids… but when kids are older, like middle school, I don’t think it’s too bad.
My mom went to college and got her real estate license a year or two ago. She got a job again, and sold her first house really quickly and successfully. I was proud of her for how well she had done. But in my family, my mom is also a good friend, so we’re kind of on equal terms in some areas.. my siblings and I have always been pretty self-sufficient.
I don’t necessarily think it’s bad, though. It just should be, in my opinion, very flexible when you have younger kids.
yes
I think it can be handled appropriately, but it is difficult. Most two income families only want the second income; they do not need it. They want the second salary so they can have a larger house, a BMW or a boat. The trade off is that a person working in daycare bonds with your child rather than you. They spend more time with your baby than you do. Their morals and ethics are transmitted rather than yours.
If I had a child and quit working, we wouldn’t have enough money to pay our mortgage AND have food to eat. So, there’s really no choice here for me.
I had a working Mom and a stay-at-home Dad when I was really little, and I turned out just fine…
…Do I hear laughter in the background?
> Most definitely! That is one of many contributing factors. My daughter works outside the home at two side jobs, and she is fortunate enough to have an understanding and mostly compliant mate and experienced father to offset the negatives. Yay for us!! :~}
Peace
Yes, absolutely. And it is the fact that the majority of mothers are not at home that is the problem, not one particular mother. In fact, one mother staying home doesn’t make much difference when it is not the norm. Women and children being so undervalued and paying them only lip service is the main reason our society has gone down to its current ugly level. Saying we love our children but thinking they are not worth a mother staying home to care for them is the problem. Mothers here are not “allowed” to work, they are obliged to work, and when they dare to attempt the choice of responsibility and love in actually being mothers and taking care of their homes/husbands/children, they are looked down upon as though they ought to want a “real” job.
absolutely
Yes. A child needs at least one parent to be at home.
I don’t think it’s significant, but I think a stay-at-home mom (or dad)does have a positive impact, at least while the kids are still very young. My mom didn’t go back to work until I was in fourth or fifth grade, and I’m thankful that she waited. It was good to have her around while I was in the earlier stages.
But I don’t think working moms have a tremendous negative impact. Stay-at-home moms are kind of like giant bonus points, but it’s not like if Mom works the kids turn out terribly. What would be worse would be Mom not working if that means the kids starve.
My mom always always worked, and my sister and I went to daycare when my older brother couldn’t keep us at home. My sister was a real social butterfly and always loved daycare, but I hated it. I had some health issues when I was little, and kids in daycare (and school, for that matter) were really mean.
I would fake sick when I was too young to stay home alone so my mom would have to stay home with me. I always orchestrated it so I would feel “sick” past lunchtime and not have to go in to school for half a day. I was devious.
The difficult part of it was, though, that my mom never had any big career dreams; she really wanted to just stay home with us, but my dad never quite made enough money. Actually, with both of their salaries, we still were below the poverty level most of my life. My mom worked out of necessity, but that didn’t make it easier on us.
Now I’m in college, married, and pregnant, and my husband and I have probably worked it out so that one of us will be home with the baby at all times. I adamantly refuse to let my kids be exposed to what I was exposed to if it’s not necessary.
Crap… Take the first five words off the beginning of that. I started like I was going in a different direction.
I thinks so, most of them are too busy to do things for their children. Not fix dinner, get them to their events at school and giving them the love they need.
I suppose it’s possible, but working fathers might also have such an impact.
I do not know, but kids misbehaving is certainly rising. I’m not sure if it is portional to the population or not though. This is certainly not my field!
No, both of my parents always have worked and I would say it has made me more independent and responsible. When I was in elementary school, I had an older sister to be home with me, but the year I graduated elementary school was the year she graduated high school, and so she went off to college, so starting in middle school, I was always home alone after school and if I stayed home sick. I feel that it made me learn things for myself at an earlier age – I cooked for myself, I did my own laundry, I had to take care of the animals, I would often be in charge of cleaning the house since my parents didn’t have time, etc. Funny how I just typed that all in past tense, when I’m still in high school and I still do this stuff everyday. -_-
There are a lot of things that are having a negative impact on kids today. Both parents usually have to work nowadays to make ends meet. But, is the absence of a parent really the culprit? Nowadays, it’s more convenient to let television entertain your kids than to play with them. It’s okay to consider “time out” a punishment. Lets give out trophies for all the little leagues and make sure that we over protect the shit out of our kids. When a teacher tells us that our kids are misbehaving or retards, we blame the teacher or the school system. We buy kids Playstation, X-box, Nintendos instead of making them play outside and be social. Leave out prayer in school but teach them that it’s okay and normal to be gay. I believe that if a parent is in fact THAT, a PARENT, then it shouldn’t matter that they are away from home sometimes.
No. There have already been studies on this. Here’s where the old, “Quality not quantity” saying is really the most important thing. My mom works outside of the home and I’m in the International Baccalaureate program at my high school, I have a 3.8 GPA, I don’t do drugs, I don’t smoke, I don’t drink, and I’m pretty much on the right track in life.
I also know kids who have stay-art-home moms or their moms stayed home with them when they were little and they do drugs, make bad grades, and generally don’t care about life.
It’s two sides to the ocin and one child isn’t better than the other simply if their mother stayed home with them if they were little or not. The mom could habe been an alchoholic and stayed home with the kids. I think I’d much rather perfer a sober mom who went out and worked just about every day.
No. Just because they work doesn’t mean they don’t spend any time with their child.
yes, for sure. my mom was always there for me and now i am for my son.
Well, it would be best if the mother could stay home. But sometimes that is not feasible. My mom worked outside the home. I work outside the home. It is just a way of life. You adjust. You adapt. However, just because you work outside the home you are not ignoring or neglecting your child. Or at least my mom didn’t neglect me, and I don’t with my child. In fact, I participated in his sport activities. I was always there to see him compete and I even helped the team by being their video person to record all their track meets and cross country races for the team and the coach to view to critique. I was always there to help with homework and I was always there at his school programs. And my child and I always “talked” about everything. I have a very good relationship with my teenage son. He is responsible, polite, happy, respectful, a jokester, and smart. So it didn’t hurt him to be in daycare in his early years. He was only at day care when I was at work. I never took him to day care if I was home on a holiday or vacation. I do believe some working mothers go ahead and put their child in day care even if they have a day off. I never did. I treasured my time with my child, and it paid off because we are very close. He is not a momma’s boy at all. We are just very comfortable with each other, and he knows he can always talk to me about anything and we do talk. That is the key…..communication.
no. not at all.. it’s showing the children that men and woman alike work to be sucessful. Both mother and father can work and sometimes stay at home… my mom and dad both worked and both rasied me and I’ve never felt neglected… I actually don’t really remember ever being babysat. They worked their schedules around me… I actually think my mom worked the most often and my dad was at home and going to school for his PhD. I’ve been raised knowing that I need to work and I need to go to school.. and I dont see anything negative about that.
Yes, I think it is but at times it is necessary because of the kind of system we work in nowadays. When I get married (this December) I don’t plan on ever having my wife work anywhere and I would recommend that all mom’s try their hardest to be able to be a housewife etc.
My hubby and I made sacrifices so that I could stay home with our children. I had the neighborhood hang out house. I always took the kids to after school activities because their moms would call and say,”since you don’t work, and I have to, would you take my child to such and such?” I didn’t mind but it was almost like it was expected because I had nothing better to do since I didn’t work. We were very involved in our children’s church, sport and school activities. We never drove a new car, never had new furniture, rarely ate out and always had to work to pay the bills, but I would not trade it for anything. I now have one daughter that works full time, one daughter that is a stay at home mom in the same situation finacially that we were when she was young, and a son who has taken two jobs so that his wife can stay home with their son and the new one on the way. Someday when the kids are in school my daughter in law plans to work but for now she is so happy to get to stay home. I can’t really say whether or not my children would have turned out more self reliant or better citizens had they been day care babies, but I am very proud of them and so grateful I got to stay home with them all the way through high school. We still don’t have a lot of money, but we spend a lot of time together with family and friends.
i think so…i mean u have to find the rite job if ur a mother..like a job in a school…b/c then ure home at the same time as ur kids and have of wen they hae off.
but if ur never home then i think thats selfish and bad parenting.
I think so!!
Yes. Kids don’t have manners anymore, don’t know how to share, don’t know how to think outside of their own needs/wants, are way too influenced by peers, have many more opportunities for getting into trouble.
I think it’s good for the mom to work outside the home when her children get to older elementary school age. She won’t go crazy with obsession over her children’s lives like some of my friends stay-at-home moms. My mom was a stay-at-home mom with occasional jobs like substitute teaching until my younger brother was in 4th grade. She was always there for us during our crucial childhood years. Then she worked her way back into a full-time teaching position again, and on top of doing what she loved, we learned to be somewhat independent. Perhaps the hours of teaching helped, though, since she was go home in the late afternoons and in the summer.
As long as the mother makes sure her kids come before her career, there will be very little damage and maybe even some benefits!
What I meant by the obsessive mother comment is that I’ve observed my friends’ stay-at-home mothers becoming ridiculously overbearing and overprotective as we have grown older.
Yes. This is a very difficult issue for me, because I consider myself a feminist and definitely believe that women should have as much right to work as men, BUT I also believe that when children are involved, one parent should definitely stay home and take care of the child. It doesn’t have to be the mother, but kids should be raised by their parents, not babysitters. I babysit two kids whose parents both work, and I can see that they just don’t get enough time with their parents, and that because of this they don’t feel as secure as kids who have the ever-present Mommy or Daddy figure.
well..my mom has always worked..and even though i am still in school..i can tell that we dont have a very good relationship… i cant really talk to her about anything because i just never have..and it would be way to weird..
I agree and disagree with some of these posts. I believe that a working mom CAN teach her kids independence and how to strive for something that you really love to do….but that can come at a price because the relationship can suffer. I want my child to be independent, but not at the expense of having a close relationship and lots of fun memories together. I stay home because thousands of women for generations have stayed at home, and there has never been as much of a problem with dependent children (as in the reoccupied nest) as there has been in the last 10 years when mom’s working is the rule rather than the exception. If you want to work all the time, better have LOTS of energy, or accept that your child may grow up to be LESS independent….
No, not unless they’re never seen. Ever.
Yes.
Absolutely. My son has told me that he wishes I was home so that I could spend time with him. He wants to help me start some sort of business from home so that I can stay home with him and continue to homeschool him.
I believed that mothers should have working-from-home jobs so that they can be with their children. I mean, with all the technology such as fax machine, web camera, im, etc. it would be easier for them to communicate with their boss and clients.
no…i think it depends on the parents themselves and how they handle the situations…some mothers HAVE to work outside the home….and some like to….it depends on the type of parent they are, not just the fact they work outside the home
Absolutely. It’s the mother’s job to train and nurture her children, and when she is away and leaving someone else to do her job, the children will suffer. The impact will vary from family to family, but it is definitely there.
yes
yea
no