Ok, so this is not what I planned on blogging about next, but I want to share something that came up on my mom’s club forum because its of high interest to me, as well as many other mothers: can women have it all? Can mothers have a high profile career, or a full time career at all, and also be a supermom? A mom from my Pleasant Hill Walnut Creek Mother’s Club posted this a few days ago:
Juggling Motherhood and Work
I thought today’s Fresh Air program might be of some interest to some of the mommies here. In fact, if any of you are interested in getting together and discussing the article, please send me an email, since the issues raised in Slaughter’s article definitely resonated with me. Happy reading & happy summer! -Wenlei
http://www.npr.org/2012/06/21/155498926/the-impossible-juggling-act-motherhood-and-work
Sadly, I do think feminists have sold women a fiction. The article itself states, “And although women as a group have made substantial gains in wages, educational attainment, and prestige over the past three decades, the economists Justin Wolfers and Betsey Stevenson have shown that women are less happy today than their predecessors were in 1972, both in absolute terms and relative to men.” Hmmmm…..
As for juggling a career and a family, I think two parents can not both be professionals putting in long hard hours without putting their children at stake. I look at the masses of unhappy young people in our society and have to wonder if we are sacrificing our children for our jobs. I believe everyone’s pursuit of happiness starts at home with family, not at work, and so the juggling act of two income families can be quite an obstacle to the priorities of a true pursuit of happiness.
I agree with the author’s statement, “….the minute I found myself in a job that is typical for the vast majority of working women (and men), working long hours on someone else’s schedule, I could no longer be both the parent and the professional I wanted to be.” I am a happy stay at home mom because I knew I had to make a choice, and I chose my children. I am spending this life on enjoying my children to the fullest because I wholeheartedly believe that one parent needs to be very present at home in order to provide the guidance that both little ones and teens alike need very much. And moms happen to be designed with a God given maternal instinct that powerfully draws us to our children and our home. Its a good fit.
Deciding that I would stay home with our children at almost any cost, has been a wonderful decision for us. I have found deep satisfaction in being the one to shape my precious children into who they will become. Satisfaction that can not be traded for any amount of pay or status.
Anyway, just wanted to share on this great post as I often reflect on the calling of motherhood. Lots more thoughts on motherhood, family, and teaching our children on my blog in hopes of speaking to the hearts of moms. I love to hear from other moms.
https://jesuspreciouslittlelambs.wordpress.com
“Someday, when our children are grown, very few of us will say, “I sure wish I had sold more at my job, or won more awards at work, or opened new accounts for my employer.” But many of us may say, “I wish I had spent more time with my children when they were young.” ~Before Five In A Row
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