Given the choice, should moms stay home with their kids?

by Fef Posted 2012/04/13 18:31:39

Related Topics: War, Career, Work, Republicans, Democrats, Kids, Economy, Mitt Romney, Tweet, Son, Financial, Parenting, Father, Mothers, Life

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	Mothers should raise their young kids	99 votes	88%
	Mothers should let someone else raise their kids	14 votes	12%

Given the economic choice and financial stability, should moms choose to stay home with their kids? What type of parenting results in the best upbringing for kids? Studies show that latchkey kids (kids who come home to an empty house) don't perform as well as kids who have at least one parent at home. Common sense suggests what studies have proven -- kids need a father or mother in the home.

The Democrats raised this issue recently when Ms. Hillary Rosen, a Democratic strategist, started a war against moms by attacking stay-at-home, mother-of-five Ann Romney. Ms. Rosen criticized the Republican presidential candidate's wife by saying, "[Mitt Romney]'s wife has actually never worked a day in her life." Ann Romney raised five sons and has 16 grandkids.

The Democrats have accused the Republicans of waging war against women, when the Democrats refuse to respect the choice of mom's who don't want to abandon their kids. The Democrats exposed their war on women suggesting that women should work and not have kids, and to have a professional career even if women choose to have kids. Ann Romney and the Romney campaign quickly fired back with tweets and a bumper sticker "Mom's drive the economy."
Mom economy bumper sticker

+15

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iamthemob ~ the 444th Guru ~ 2012/04/13 18:36:00

Mothers should let someone else raise their kids

+10
Like, perhaps, their father.

This entire question is actually fairly offensive to fathers. If a mother is abandoning her children by working as well as being a mother, then the only accurate assessment of fathers is that they should and historically have abandoned their children by working also.
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JohnT 2012/04/14 01:36:51

Mothers should raise their young kids

+2
There should have been more choices on this question. That is up to the woman and her family. Economics and what they need to do to keep financially stable. There is no one size fits all for everyone. I really dislike questions like this as it is up to a woman what she does and if other folks don't like it perhaps they need to live that persons life. Some families have a mother that stays home and she is a PITA , others have a mom that works and it works well for the family.

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Rebecca 2012/04/14 00:02:25

Mothers should raise their young kids

+2
I've had the best of both worlds. I was raised by a stay at home Mom for the first 10 years of my life. Then my parents divorced and I became a latchkey kid. There were positives and negatives to both.

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mustangluver 2012/04/13 23:35:26

Mothers should raise their young kids

For me, i expect my husband to be able to take care of me and our kids. I don't want to have a kid for someone else to care for. I am not going to go out to work, do housework and cooking and child care..not gonna happen. I don't care about vacations or going out to dinner so there's no need for me to work..my husband takes care of all bills..

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sally 2012/04/13 23:27:40

Mothers should raise their young kids

Ideally, I think if mothers can find a way to spend as much time with their kids as possible, they should take that opportunity if they want it.

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Dolly 2012/04/13 23:07:14

Mothers should raise their young kids

+1

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Rebecca to Dolly 2012/04/14 00:05:14

Actually, she is a good example of what to do right. I think she has done a phenomenal job. She also has the support and help of her hubby, which makes all the difference. Bad example: Octomom

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Melizmatic to Rebecca 2012/04/14 01:44:15 (edited)

+1
Except for the whole 'endangering her health' part.
Know when to say 'when.'

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Rebecca to Melizmatic 2012/04/14 07:25:04

You and I may think that, but unlike some/many, she and her husband carefully considered the possibilities. It may not be our way or how we would do things, but I have to give her kudos for conducting her life as she sees fit.

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Melizmatic to Rebecca 2012/04/14 20:06:54

+2
The way I read it, that last pregnancy was a direct threat to her health, and it ended in miscarriage.

Yet in an interview, they said they still want to try again.

That doesn't sound very "well planned" or even rational to me, but to each his or her own.

Not my body, not my responsibility, not my problem.

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KilrQueen 2012/04/13 22:54:59

Mothers should raise their young kids

If it is feasible for a mom to stay home and raise the kids, then by all means do that...you will never do anything quite as important as raising your children.

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mark 1 2012/04/13 22:36:30

Mothers should let someone else raise their kids

+1
I feel it would be better if Mom or Dab was able to stay with the kids.

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Angela Chambers 2012/04/13 22:30:16
Sister Jean 2012/04/13 22:26:04

Mothers should raise their young kids

+1
IF possible ,but tough in these economic times....many of the brightest kids i taught were latch key kids

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safari 2012/04/13 22:25:41

Mothers should raise their young kids

Well yes! If they are fit mothers and have a choice why would they want someone else to raise their own flesh and blood?

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Leah to safari 2012/04/14 08:46:20

Because some women don't want to totally give up on their careers.

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safari to Leah 2012/04/14 09:10:19

My kids are grown. For most of their childhood I didn't have a choice. But looking back, no career would have been worth what I could have had if I'd stayed at home with them. If I could go back and do it again but with the ability to choose, I'd choose my children. They always were my number one priority and it hurt me that I could not be there performing to the best of my ability, in the most important CAREER of my life. Women need to stop being so selfish when they have kids. They aren't THINGS - or pets, they are our mini mes - If they don't want to be mothers why do they have them?

I know why - I'm not new to this picnic. But I'm just saying - it's something to think about. If you want a career most of all, then don't have kids just to farm them out to someone else. Do what is right for the children. If you make them then be responsible.

I still have a good relationship with my kids and I changed careers and became a success anyway. But I know what my priorities would have been if the income I could generate hadn't been a factor in our survival. Nothing pays anything more valuable than the rewards of motherhood. I bet more career moms die wishing they could go back and be with their kids again rather than to go back and work one more day making that big deal.

Just food for thought -

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Leah to safari 2012/04/14 23:38:19

I want to be a mom and raise my children. But I also don't want to give up on my career dreams. Just because I won't be with my children all day, doesn't mean I won't be raising them.
If I do work and have children, I might look back one day and regret not being with my kids enough. But if I give up my career to raise my kids, I will look back and wonder what I could have been. It's going to be a tough choice either way.

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Recruit 2012/04/13 22:22:42

Mothers should raise their young kids

+1
thats what welfare is supposed to be for

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ladyjane 2012/04/13 22:00:31

Mothers should raise their young kids

+2
There isn't anything wrong with a traditional American family. If you don't know what that is then look it up...

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LeroyRogers 2012/04/13 21:58:10 (edited)

Mothers should raise their young kids

+3
Our society went to hell when most mothers started working full time. Kids that grow up in daycare don't get the attention they need, so they find it in other ways.

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Peru 2012/04/13 21:54:53

Mothers should raise their young kids

+3
Yes, wherever possible mothers should stay with their children.

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Faith ~American Patriot~ 2012/04/13 21:39:46

Mothers should raise their young kids

+3
It's up to them! I chose to be a stay at home mom. Once our daughter started school I started working from home. I take her to school, get some work done, then I have the rest of the day available for her : )

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Amy ...AKA Dudess 2012/04/13 21:33:47

Mothers should raise their young kids

+2
I think if the husband makes enough to support the family then yes the mother should stay home with the kids.

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FeedFwd 2012/04/13 21:31:19

Mothers should raise their young kids

I have to wonder why somebody would want to have kids if they didn't want to raise them. But we see it everyday. There are many reasons why moms would choose an alternative to staying home with their kids, but it seems like staying at home would be the default position. A couple contemplating having kids really ought to be asking these kinds of questions before they have a baby than after. Raising a child is hard work and expensive. It isn't always valued by society, as we have recently seen. But the rewards of raising children into self-reliant adults is a pretty good reward in its own right. They used to say to parents, "Raise your kids well, because they will be caring for you when you no longer can." I guess too many parents have forgotten that notion or have more confidence than me that some government run old folks home will be better than family.

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HenriLewkowiczhenri 2012/04/13 21:07:04 (edited)

Mothers should raise their young kids

if most mothers would stay home to raised the kids and cook dinner for their husband and childrens ,a few positive things would happen ...first unemployment would disappear second , women would again become real wife and mothers , with a possible divorce rate coming way down . it would be bad for the fast food and restaurant industry ,but good for the general health of the countcountry ry food foo

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Leah to HenriLe... 2012/04/14 08:47:52

I don't want to stay home all day raising kids and cooking for my husband. Why do people assume that women should want to give up their careers to stay home?

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HenriLe... to Leah 2012/04/14 17:58:38

in that case do not get married ,you are not fit for it and would end up with one more DIVORCE ...........

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Leah to HenriLe... 2012/04/14 23:43:07

I don't know if I will ever get married. I don't see it working for me. I would like to fall in love one day, and be in a committed relationship. I would only enter into a long-term relationship if I was an equal partner in that relationship. I will not be spending my days taking care of a guy. I realize that I may never find someone to spend the rest of my life with. But I would prefer that over being in an unhappy relationship.

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HenriLe... to Leah 2012/04/17 22:21:27

you would be a perfect ....LESBIAN ......

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Leah to HenriLe... 2012/04/18 00:41:12

That's funny :) I've been told that by several people, mostly guys, after telling them my philosophy. There's only one problem with that: I'm attracted to men.

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HenriLe... to Leah 2012/04/24 16:48:28

so your answer is ...submission to men ah ah ah ...P S ..you will eventually find your MASTER ....

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Leah to HenriLe... 2012/04/24 20:39:50

No way. I will NEVER submit to a man. And no one will be my master. What I want is a male partner that is an equal to me. Not someone that tries to dominate me, and wants me to be submissive.

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HenriLe... to Leah 2012/04/29 13:11:31

you forgot the laws of nature , the man gives ,, the woman received .......

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Leah to HenriLe... 2012/04/29 14:37:52

I don't care what the laws of nature are. I know what I want. I want an equal partner. I am NOT submissive, so I can never be with a dominant man.

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Shawna 2012/04/13 21:03:42

Mothers should raise their young kids

+1
Your answer options are too limited. While it is true that if one parent stays home with children it is usually the mother, that is not always the case nor is it necessarily the best case. It usually makes sense for the person who earns the most to be the "breadwinner" while the other parent raises children. It is also possible to work at least part time or work from home while raising school aged children. I have good friends who are both nurses. They worked different shifts and she worked part time while he worked full time. This flexibility allowed for one of them to always be home with their children and they have raised three wonderful human beings. Extended family is also helpful and something we used to rely on much more than we do now in times where people move to find work and may not live near extended family. Women have usually worked in addition to having primary responsibility of child raising. They have worked on farms and in fields or factories and child care was shared with grandmothers and aunts. Children benefit greatly from relationships with extended family members as well. If we are going to argue that women who go to work are being selfish or somehow making a choice that is not good for their children lets step away from blaming women for every...

Your answer options are too limited. While it is true that if one parent stays home with children it is usually the mother, that is not always the case nor is it necessarily the best case. It usually makes sense for the person who earns the most to be the "breadwinner" while the other parent raises children. It is also possible to work at least part time or work from home while raising school aged children. I have good friends who are both nurses. They worked different shifts and she worked part time while he worked full time. This flexibility allowed for one of them to always be home with their children and they have raised three wonderful human beings. Extended family is also helpful and something we used to rely on much more than we do now in times where people move to find work and may not live near extended family. Women have usually worked in addition to having primary responsibility of child raising. They have worked on farms and in fields or factories and child care was shared with grandmothers and aunts. Children benefit greatly from relationships with extended family members as well. If we are going to argue that women who go to work are being selfish or somehow making a choice that is not good for their children lets step away from blaming women for everything and consider blaming the men who move their family away from extended family members in order to pursue a career that satisfies them. If women are expected to sacrifice income and intellectual stimulation in order to benefit their children, men should be expected to do the same.

Economics are not the only reason for people, both men and women, to work outside of the home.
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kudabux 2012/04/13 21:01:50

Mothers should raise their young kids

Or fathers. This way, they will learn their values from their parents, not some outside influence. When both parents work, there is another income, but the extra expense that comes with that extra paycheck often negates any profit.

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Gracie ~Gun Totin' Gracie~ 2012/04/13 20:59:26

Mothers should raise their young kids

+1
I stayed home with my sons and my husband brought home the dough. :)

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Linkums 2012/04/13 20:47:14

Mothers should raise their young kids

+2
Or fathers. It seems like it should be pretty important for at least one of the parents to be spending a good deal of time with their kids as they are growing up.

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JP 2012/04/13 20:40:24

Mothers should raise their young kids

+1
Depends entirely on the mother.

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That One Chick 2012/04/13 20:33:38

Mothers should let someone else raise their kids

It's up to the woman! If she wants to work, why shouldn't she? The dad could always stay home too!

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