What A Load Of Horse Doo Doo

I didn't watch Good Morning America this morning but someone directed me to their website to read one of their topics from the show. I was angry before I even got to the article. The headline from the article reads:
'Mommy Wars': To Work Or Stay At Home.
Okay, not an uncommon thing to hear. Under that was:
Linda Hirshman Says Stay-At-Home Moms Are Wrong.

What? I don't think I have ever heard that before. The first paragraph:
An alarming number of college-educated women are leaving the work force to stay
at home and raise their children, a trend that is a tragedy not only for the
mothers, but ultimately their children and women as a whole.

A "tragedy"?? Are you kidding me? And here are a couple more highlights from the article: Hirshman also said educated women choosing to stay home was bad for them as
individuals.
"Measured against these time-tested standards, the expensively educated,
upper-class moms will be leading lesser lives."
"I see at-home moms whose children won't separate from them, won't go to school,
cry at the door. My children have learned, from an early age, that Mommy will be
back.

I just don't know what to say to all that. I don't think I have ever heard someone say that being a SAHM was bad idea. How can choosing your children over a job be a tradgedy? How can being with your children and being the one to raise them not be a good idea? Of course there is always the exception. Some SAHM (or in one case I know of a SAHD) spend their time at home doing only for themselves. If you are choosing to stay at home for your kids then you need to do the job of a SAHM. That means talking to your children (not just at them). Sounds like an odd thing to tell someone, but you would be surprised how many mom's sit their kids in front of the TV all day and don't talk to them about things to help them learn. SAHM 's should be playing with their children, teaching them, opening them up to lots of experiences, teaching them good manners and habits. They should be getting their children in tune with music and art and exploring. Most children in daycare settings don't receive these kinds of things, nor do they get the individual attention that a parent at home with them all day can give them. However, there are parents who stay at home so they can take advantage of getting 'me' time by doing things they want to do that doesn't directly involve their children. Sure, they feed them and give general care and keep them safe, but there should be so much more to a SAHM's duties. In cases like this, children may be better off in a daycare.

That being said, I am not anti working mothers. Not in the least bit. It is very hard these days for most families to live comfortably on a single family income. I truly feel it is a blessing for mom's to be able to stay at home with their kids. I know lots of working mom's who would love to stay at home with their kids, but it just isn't in their cards to be able to do so. And I find those are the working mothers who don't neglect the time they do have with their children. They get involved in their children's activities, and spend time with them on the weekends rather than always pushing them off on someone else so that they can use the weekend for themselves. I have seen a lot of working mothers who choose to work because they can not handle being at home all day with their kids, or they simply seek the working world more then they do being a house wife. And those seem to (not always) be the mom's who spend little time when they are home with their children and are quick to call a babysitter or send them off to grandma's house so they are out of the way and mom's can get house stuff and personal stuff done without kids tailing behind.

I will step off my soap box now, but I will be sure to watch the second part of this segment on GMA tomorrow.

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