ExchangeEveryDay Past Issues

I was also offended by the 55-year-old teacher's comments. For one, they were illiterate and so I hope you are never the teacher of my child. They're not there. For two, I am a single mother of 3. Working is a must in order for my children to have food, clothing, shelter, and the many wonderful bonding experiences we have been able to have. The ignorance in the statement about stay at home mom's loving their children more was almost more than I could stomach. I work because I love my children. They are smart, funny, above average-testing little people. They are amazing and they don't doubt my love for them for a second.

I was really offended by the comment of the 55yrs old teacher. As we all know not every working mother is not staying home because money is more important than their children. Oh how I wish, financially I could be a stay home mom. I wonder if the 55yrs old teacher had children herself and if she was financially blessed enough to stay home with them. Being a teacher myself, I see children with different backgrounds and similar attitudes and behaviors (good and not so good).

"Having a Working Mother is Good for You" assumes that earring more is good for us. Though it is true that higher salaries has its advantages for women, I question the emotional health of these children. I wonder if a balance between working and staying home were studied, what would those results show?
If mothers stayed home with their children and then went to work, would this have a healthier impact on the daughters and sons? What if a mother stayed home for at least the first three years of her child's life to offer the child all the advantages of a stable home environment and then the mother pursued her career outside the home, would this balance produce a healthier child who is not only emotionally secure from being in a home environment during the early years but also financially secure in life because the child has seen her mother working outside the home? I think we miss the mark when we look at research and not question the words. We look at one aspect and assume that it is the best and we never look beyond it for a better outcome.

Interesting report - but very superficial. I chose to forego my professional career and stay home with my children, with my husband as the main breadwinner. Both children are wonderful and very different - each following their passions - my son is an undergraduate studying a joint degree in architecture and design and my daughter is successfully juggling both her academic and ballet commitments at a performing arts high school. The only advantage that I could see my working friends had was that they could afford private tuition to improve their children's academic results, which I suspect is the REAL outcome of the report's findings.

I cannot believe the harsh response to mothers that choose to work it is not all about money and for that teacher to say that children from stay at home mums are more loved is absolutely unbelievable- what a rude narrow minded person. I love my child more than anything on this earth and she is my number one priority. I would be very disturbed if my child was in this judgemental persons classroom. I think it is a personal choice based on a lot of different circumstances and we all just do the best we can with what we have, being a working mum is tough as is being a stay at home mum. We should respect peoples decisions and not judge one another - parenting is hard enough as it is!