Wow,.. Reading most of the SAHM comments it makes me ashamed to be a former SAHM. How dare you force your beliefs down other women's throats? How dare you tell people that they are abandoning their children. You obviously have no idea what abandonment is. You life in your lovely little bubble believing that raising your child yourself is the perfect thing to do. How dare you try and tell somebody that they are wrong. You believe that you are great just because you're a SAHM.

Your job doesn't make you who you are. You live in a little internet bubble apparently. You say that unless you are near starving you shouldn't have to work. Really? So, I'm guessing most of you are from rural areas that it doesn't matter if your children wear clothing that is 2 times to small for them. I am happy to say that I am no longer a SAHM after all of the embarrassing comments made here towards a mom who wanted to follow her dream.

Here's a thought. How good of an example are you setting if you're not following your dreams? You can't really tell your children to follow their dreams if you don't do the same.

It is also NOT selfish to go to work.

My Mom was a stay at home Mom and also homeschooled me and my two sisters. When I was 13 we began keeping children in our home. My mom did this so we could learn childcare and see how important these children are. They are peaple with feelings and needs. When they reached a certain age and were able to stand at the front door and watch there moms leave it was so hard! They would just stand with tears running down there cheeks softly saying "Please Mama come back!" Talk about a heart breaker! I knew then that I could never leave my Babies. That is what God made me for to be a Mother to my children. When my little boy stays with my Mom for 4 hours a week so I can clean my house it is so hard! I miss him so bad. And when I walk in the door to He lights up! As tireing and hard as it is to be home all the time with a small child nothing is as rewarding. From babysitting experience I know that as much as you love that child (& having been with them from 7:00 a.m. -6:00 p.m. you create a strong bond) you still can't love them like your own. No one know matter how great or loving a person can fill the void in that childs heart that ther Mom can. If you are a stay at home Mom & beleive in what you are dedicating your life to I would love to hear from you! You can never get back those special moments with your child. Treasure them while you can!!!!

I know working 'outside the home' was a matter of fact for me. I do have the good fortune to be able work at home which allows me flexibilty which is necessary with a special needs child.
I teach my child to appreciate diversity and respect the beliefs of others and to help those less fortunate.
I think all moms & dads have it hard and earn beautiful rewards . Nothing is more precious than my child's laughter or smile. I think good parents love their children and keep them safe. I think this applies to all walks of life. There are too many children who are in harm's way in their own homes. This is the situation that all parents should rally against. There are over 500,000 children in foster care today in this country. Many are adoptable http://adoptuskids.org/.
That is the soapbox I choose to stand on.

Muchellebelle83,

LOVED your story lady!!!!! I commend your future plans!!!!

Invest in birth control if you want to be a full time career woman, lol....that's hilarious!

Pryceless

Interesting - maybe if a couple has too many kids that require the mother to stay at home, they should begin talking about birth control.

Heaven knows our planet could use throttling back on our population as it is.

ok people....
Do you really think TLC is trying to peave anyone off by having this show on the air? I think not. I myself am a mom of 2.. actually, a single mom of 2 and yes...i work. full time..sometimes, more than 40 hours a week! (oh shame on me huh!!) I also have to go go home and do everything a mom should do..football, gymnastics, walk the dog, cook, laundry, etc. Yea, it was hard when they were younger and i did have that gleam in my eye of someday i would love to stay home w/my kids. but sometimes you just can't or some moms don't want too.
i don't love my kids any less just because i didn't stay home w/them in their younger I love this show. I think it's opening up peoples eyes on what their potential they have!!who are any of you to put down TLC for this show or to put down us working moms. my mom worked...her mom worked...come on, this is 2008 open your eyes and look at the big reality picture!!

Seriously, taraj and all of you rabid SAHMers, get over yourselves. First of all, the whole logic of "if you have to work because of finances, this isn't about you..." makes absolutely no sense. It's ridiculous! Women work or don't work for a number of different reasons that may or may not have to do with finances. This in no way means that they are selfish or didn't want to have children. I mean you are telling me that a mother who has to work to support her family is not selfish but the one who is doing it for purely non-financial reasons is? How does this make any sense? And the person telling people that if a woman wants to work full time, they need to get birth control? This kind of attitude is what is sick and downright degrading. You cannot be raising children who will be tolerant and responsible citizens with attitudes like that!

Kim, I think that was about the dumbest thing I have ever heard. Must be nice to have a choice to stay home, huh? In this economy, not everyone has that choice. We should be supporting our sisters, not knocking them down.

Btw, I don't know if you knew this or not, but no birth control is 100% effective. That is how my 5 year old came into my life.

Not everyone plans on having a baby. But they make due with their situation. How dare you judge so harshly when you obviously don't know what it's like to have to work and raise a kid. Luckily, I have a great partner, my husband, to help me out. Why should everything fall on my shoulders just because I'm the mom. They call marriages partnerships for a reason.

I'm giggling at the thought of someone telling my husband that he better get some birth control or quit his job. Because it would never happen.

Seriously shocking double standards going on here.

If you don't believe we should have it all, then you are not determined enough to make it happen... period. There is an achievable balance that IS the ULITMATE COMBO and does not turn children these WOHM's abandon into rejects of society! My goodness ppl... read Cookie, Parents, any child/parenting magazine that you can get your hands on and you'll see wonderful children with diverse backgrounds. If you think that you must give up working or a career to be a mother, then that is what you'll do.

Now, I don't see it that way... I'm a Marketing Director with a 2 year old son and I'm the best mother I can be to him. Other than the fact that the terrible 2's are taking place, lol, things a re just as normal in our home after his father and I get home from work as any other home.

Come to think of it, daycare is while we work. He is picked up early afternoon (husband teaches) and both of us have him outside, then dinner, bath, etc... everything that the SAHM'S do.. so what is the deal? It's ok for mom's who don't work while the kids are in school and do the same thing I do after I work to give me shiz for working?

Umm no, as far as I can tell, I'm doing 2 jobs, loving it and not expecting my husband to pay for OUR children's college.

I cannot believe the negative attitudes towards working mothers. I happen to have been a working mother and I believe that I have raised my children to be good upstanding adults (who by the way all have children of their own now)they were fortunate enough to see a strong independant woman working and having it all. I taught both of my sons to respect women for want they offer society and my daughter to be strong. It is a personal choice , how dare anyone but God judge me

quote:

Originally posted by Kim78:
The great thing about 2008 women can do anything they want start a career, have a family, join the army, and possibly the President. This show is unspeakable if you are a woman who wants a full time career please figure that out before you have children. These poor kids will now be raised by total strangers. No I don't believe we should have it all. At what expense? I fully support women in the workforce but, if that is the decision you make don't have kids that YOU or a partner can't raise.....

Some of the people posting on this site make me sick...How dare some of you tell a mother she is wrong for working? With today's economy it is nearly impossible to not have double incomes in households, and does that mean I shouldn't have a child because I have to work? (the answer is no by the way)

I feel sorry for many of you - you honestly should be ashamed of yourselves...to degrade other women for their choice to work is deplorable. I almost think you are just jealous because you're stuck at home all day with no one but toddlers to conversate with, and no real life to call your own.

And "happymama" are you frigging kidding me? "that is what God made me for?" - I can see growing up in the situation you did has taught you nothing about being a strong, individual, with a mind of your own. I feel sorry for your children because they are not growing up with the tools to survive in today's world.

I feel everyone deserves to decide for themselves to stay at home with their kids or go to work, BUT to cut down mothers who have to work for whatever reason, is just WRONG...shame, shame on you all who have lowered yourselves to this level. We are all women who love our children and that is what is important.

I am a working mom and loving it. I know myself, and I would never be able be SAHM, I would go crazy. Props to all the SAHM who can do it. I enjoy going to work and not have to talk about formulas or potty training, etc…. My husband and I work two different shifts. My 2 1/2 year old daughter is taken care of by my husband in the morning, by my grandmother in the afternoon, and by me at night. And two days a week she goes to daycare. She gets more education outside the house. At my grandmother's she learns Russian and at the daycare she has been taught sign language, all her number and letters. And in regards to how a child feels about her mother, well it depends. My daughter adores her father, when we are both in the room, she could careless about me.

Woman, you have lost your mind. Yes, it is 2008, and the great thing is that time has evolved. Just because 'you' are a woman who wants a career and children doesn't mean you have to give ANYTHING up. Women don't stay at home barefoot and pregnant anymore, hun. That is why they have daycare. So that families who can't afford for Mom (or Dad) can do what they need to make life work!

I am the mother of a 7 1/2 month old little boy, and he is my life. Yes, right now I do get to stay at home with him. But that isn't going to last forever. We made it work while we could, but now we 'need' more. Not that my family is being selfish, I am not going back to work so that we can live some lavish lifestyle. I am doing this so my family can have a comfortable lifestyle. We would like to not have to scrimp and save every penny, and be able to buy great things for our son, new clothes, shoes, books, toys...

It has been said many times that if people wait until they are financially stable to start a family, very few people would have kids. You are never completely stable. You could always have more.

All of you women who believe that it is such a terrible thing to work and send your child to daycare need to open your eyes. IT'S 2008! NOT 1940...COME OUT OF THE DARK AGES AND JOIN THE REAL WORLD! THERE IS LOTS TO LEARN AND ENJOY (INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO YOUR CHILDREN)!!!!

To insist that a woman who works outside the home is selfish and does not love her children as much as you do because you stay home is irresponsbile and degrading. Is this what you teach your children while you are at home. To put down and chastise those people who make diffent decisions than your own? I would certainly hope not. I would also hope that you encourage your children to do whatever they desire to do...including having a daughter who later makes her own decision about staying at home or working outside the home.
I am a working mother who loves her child more than anything. He is a happy, loved, attentive child who is a joy to have and a joy to be around. I am there to attend to his emotional and physical needs and I do not feel guilty for leaving him with providers who I know attend to his needs as well. I beleive that the choice to stay at home or work is a personal one. Neither choice is right or wrong...