Stay at home mom Vs. Working Mom - Why are we so opinionated?

[mom2amor]

After my first daughter was born, I made the decision to give up my job as a nurse so I could stay at home with my kids. Although I am now actually working from home - there are a lot of people who pretty much think I am still a stay at home mom, who has a hobby on the internet.....

Anyway, I do still think of myself as a stay at home mom, because that is what I am - although I am working too. I guess I have the best of both worlds

Yesterday, I came aross a blog post that just kind of ticked me off a bit - well, not the post - some of the comments that came after. The post was a good one to get some discussion going - but some of the commenters started to say things about stay at home moms not having anything to offer their kids etc.

You can read more about it, and kind of understand what I mean at the blog in my signature (MomsDotComDream). I give a link to the original post too. (You can read the comment that really kind of set me off too...)

I just don't understand why some moms need to feel that the way they are doing things (working full time, staying at home - whatever they have decided to do) is the better way!

Seriously - we are all moms and wouldn't it be nice if we could all just accept that everyone is going to do things differently? And, that maybe there isn't one right or wrong way?

What do you guys think - I know that most of you are already working from home, so you might have to deal with people who think that since you are at home, you aren't "really working". Or, maybe you are starting to look for a way to stay home to work - maybe a stay at home mom who wants to make some money on the side.

Whatever our situations, I do think we need to be a bit more understanding of other moms and their own situations and decisions, don't you?

Just my thought for the day

Marie

[WritersJourney]

I think being a stay at home mom can be just a difficult and rewarding as a career. People need to lay off stay at home moms.

[SEO-Services]

Originally Posted by mom2amor

What do you guys think

My wife claims men are incapable of thinking

Personally it's not an issue I'd spend any time on... When I was a youngster, it was expected that mum would stay at home and look after the kids. Then women's lib outlawed that Now I think the majority are coming around to thinking that every one makes their own choices and quite frankly if you've made that choice, then forget what others think - it's really not worth the time and effort to try and persuade any form of bigot that their wrong.

As for stay at home mums 'not working', I think my wife has a pretty strong opinion on that!

[littlescotia]

It would be NICE to be able to focus 100% on the kiddies! When I was "just" a stay at home mom with my son, it was the best! He walked early, talked early, and we played all the time (and by play I mean some play and some learning-play.)

Stay at home moms have SO much to offer! I have the happiest memories of being home with all my kids, and being able to do simple things with them everyday - teaching them how to feed themselves, then hold crayons.. then teaching them how to clean crayon off a wall. (ahha.) by the time my 2 daughters came, I was working from home.

Either way, I think the "at home" part was the most important part for me!

Lori

[DebraFerrie]

I think every family has to do what is best for THEM.

Having said that, I do often hear a working Mom say that if they could go back in time , they would have stayed home the first 5 years or so ( until kids are in school) .

It is wonderful for the kids to have Mommy around, but like I said, to each their own.

[kaylacox]

I think it mainly comes down to the fact that to work or not to work is a really big decision and a really big part of a mom's life. Since that's the case, moms are going to have firm convictions about what is right, because really, would she be staying at home if she thought it was wrong? I guess I'm just kind of surprised that people are surprised that moms have strong feelings about it, if that makes sense.

[Itsjusmeli]

I think we all have to do what we have to do to get through, especially in this economy. I feel very fortunate I was able to stay home with my kids while they were growing up. One just graduated college, and two are starting next year. But I realize not everyone is as fortunate. Parenting is hard enough without having to constantly defend your choices.

I am a single mom, and many in my family thought I was crazy to try and raise three girls and work from home. I'm not saying it wasn't difficult, because it was. But I didn't feel comfortable working outside the home, especially after my husband and I separated. I felt they really needed me to be there. Some women have to work outside the home to make ends meet. We really all just need to support one another.

[jlbear21]

I was a stay at home mom for all of a month, then I became a work at home mom. I know what I'm doing, but to anyone outside of my company, not so much. My family and friends would need to see my paypal account and the checks I receive in the mail to believe I'm actually working at home. They think they can call me up at any point in the day, and few of them realize that if I don't answer, I'll call 'em back when I get a chance. But I receive criticism from my fiancee's family all the time... when they ask what I'm doing for work and I tell them, they ask if I'm making money off of it. It's hard to ignore these comments.

My son is 5 months old and he communicates with us very regularly. He also loves to stand up and I'm weaning him off of the bottle and onto baby food, bit by bit. My fiancee works a paper route on top of his regular job so that I can build my business while staying at home, and keep our son out of daycare.

There are plenty of people out there who are quick to criticise for whatever reason. To each their own. If it works for you, keep at it, but if not, you need to find a way to fix/improve it.

[TeachYourChild2Read]

I think that being a parent is the most important job a person could have. I used to experience some stay at home Moms feeling a bit down that they are not out in the workforce. Having been on both sides, I prefer to be home based with the kids. I believe everyone has a different path and it is important for us each to honor what we feel whether it is working from home or outside of it.

What other people have to say about it, really doesn't matter.

[Itsjusmeli]

Originally Posted by jlbear21

My family and friends would need to see my paypal account and the checks I receive in the mail to believe I'm actually working at home. They think they can call me up at any point in the day, and few of them realize that if I don't answer, I'll call 'em back when I get a chance.

I had that problem a lot when my girls were younger. Their friends' parents would just drop them off for the day, assuming I didn't have anything better to do than keep up with their kids. It was frustrating.