Saturday, March 28, 2009

Working moms

These past few years have been a place of finding myself, of figuring out who I am and what I beleive is right and living my life to reflect that.

It's amazing to me how some things have not changed and some things have nearly done a 180. One of those things is my views on working moms.

Now, I still beleive daycare is an abomination. I doubt that will ever change. It still saddens me to my core to think of tiny children, 6 week old infants even being dropped off at some commercial building to spend their day with someone who's mere "job" it is to care for them and how many others. Now, I don't put at home daycares completely in the same category as daycare centers in that at home daycare providers seem, from what I've seen, to develop a very close bond with the children they care for and see taking those children into their lives as part of their lives, not the job they punch the time clock on from 9-5. At the end of the day though, at home or commercial daycare is still a near stranger going through the motions of parenting without the deep emotional connection only a mother, grandmother, aunt, etc can have.


Being a working mom myself now, and realizing the fullfillment my job gives me on a personal and professional level my views have softened. I now have learned that having something that makes YOU feel fullfilled can make you a better asset to your family. Whatever that may be. Although my husband and I both work we still do whatever it takes to make sure our children do NOT set foot in daycare. We keep them surrounded by people who love them, who, even if there was no pay involved would still be just as happy to devote the time to them. Craig is very fortunate to be able to tweak his schedule when needed to fill in some overlap and on the average week where there is one day we both work the same shift his mother has been coming to spend time with the kids. It's an amazing gift, as she hasn't been able to spend a whole lot of time with them through their childhoods, she's getting to know them, and them her, on a whole new level.

I still don't beleive that both parents should work full time if they don't need to for financial or insurance reasons. There are many things one can do WITH their children that are fulfilling and meet the need of keeping your own interests. But I no longer beleive that working outside the home is such a horrible thing, if every effort is made to keep time in daycare at an absolute minimum.

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