On to the mother’s dilemma: to stay at home and raise your family or go to work and sacrifice time with the kids. Either route chosen is an admirable one facing many challenges and undoubtedly just being a mother is absolutely the largest in my opinion. I have however encountered people that lack an understanding of all the obligations of stay at home mothers. None of this is from personal experience, but an exceptional mother who spent some time at home and in the labor force raised me.
"They wash dirty socks, change endless diapers, and feed hungry mouths. Their shift doesn't end at five: duty calls 24/7, 365 days a year, 7 days a week. They don't get to go home at the end of the day and kick back on the couch, but you won't find them complaining. Who are these diaper wrangling divas, the mysterious masterminds of household chaos? Stay at home mothers (Harder)."
I found this great quote in a blog and couldn’t have thought of a better way to state it. I have literally heard my friends say they were looking forward to sleeping in and relaxing when they were parents. I guess this is one of the stereotypes I have never seen the reason behind.
Dealing with my own needs and myself sometimes seems overwhelming, but to add the needs of one or more beings is impossible to grasp. There were 5.6 million stay-at-home moms in 2006 as recorded by the government census. 55%
of mothers in 2004, participated in the labor force, which is down from a record high of 59 percent in 1998. Even more interesting than these statistics, I found some on the child care centers in the U.S. In 2004, there were 729,040 child care centers that parents used to maintain the supervision of their children. This could only be interesting to me, but half of this I had never realized. Parents must have much more energy than they are constantly saying they lack.
“Staying at home is a marathon, not a sprint. Stay-at-home moms need to string together months and years of such days. Their strength lies in their ability to store vast reserves of the energy, patience, resilience, and affection required to raise a child. Marathoners need a healthy heart, and so do stay-at-home moms (Harder).”
I have the utmost respect for every parent who has chosen the hands-on path. It takes a dedication and supreme devotion to forego career advancements for personally more gratifying experiences. Throw this stereotype to the wind; there is nothing lax about stay-at-home-parenting.
Harder, Christopher. "Among the Stay-At-Home Moms, A Dad in Disguise.” 30 October, 2008. http://www.csmonitor.com/2008/1030/p19s03-hfes.html
“The Surprising Pricetag of Motherhood.” 13 May, 2008. Make Me a Hot Mama. http://www.makemeahotmama.com/2008/05/suprising-price-tag-of-motherhood.html
“Mother’s Day: May 13, 2007.” 13 May 2007. US Federal Census Bureau. http://www.census.gov/Press Release/www/releases/archives/facts_for_features_special_editions/009747.html -
