Replies

I might add that my own mother stayed at home and raised five children, and was miserable most of the time and even had a nervous breakdown once. We would have been better off if she had been able to work part-time and get away from us for a few hours a week. My parents never read to us or played with us, and we rarely even took family vacations. I do more with my kids after working full time than my mom or dad ever did with me. Life was not better for all children back in the 50s and 60s.

Dads need to think more about the kids as well. I know too many dads who are lawyers and executives working 60- and 70-hour weeks and never see their kids except to tuck them in bed once in a while. They can afford for the moms not to work, but they are in effect single moms and the kids suffer from not having real dads.

Great points, on both of your posts above. I would disagree that the new way is better for men, just better for adolescent, hedonistic, physically mature adolescent males.

My wife is due in March and will have the first 6 months off before she needs to head back to work. I hate the thought of a 6 month old in day care.

I agree that the mother should get out a couple of hours per day for her sanity. My wife goes to the gym 3 nights per week and volunteers one night per week as an ESL instructor. HOWEVER, we have a lot of neighbors that have both parents working, driving their one year old to Day Care in a $50,000.00 car- All because the mom can't stand the kids or they want the two vacations to Disney every year.

If you are going to have kids, than you should raise them -Not the Day Care Centers. If that is to tough for you, than don't have kids. Period.

So, I would say neither extreme is good. Parents should work together to raise their own kids and both parents need to work together to accomplish this goal(yes it is very tough at times, but we sacrifice and make it work).

mother stayed at home and raised five children, and was miserable most of the time and even had a nervous breakdown once. We would have been better off if she had been able to work part-time and get away from us for a few hours a week.

Thanks for saying this. I was a single mom for many years and worked sporadically, staying home fulltime when I could afford to. During one of my at-home periods, my 12-yr-old son polished up my electric typewriter, fixed the cord, and proudly put it on the dining-room table. "We liked you better when you were working, Mom," he said. Lifted a ton of guilt from my heart, believe me.

But those were the days when household help was very affordable. Though I didn't make a great deal, I could pay reliable women to come in every day or even live in. A couple of them stayed for years and really loved my kids. In today's economy, the children would have ended up in daycare, a totally unsatisfactory solution.