Are working moms good moms?

Are you prepared for a different take on the idea of women in the workplace, coming from a man? I hope so, because here it comes. You cannot tell me my wife of seventeen years is not a good mother because she has the ability to make money and provide a service to others in our community. I always thought she was a remarkable woman because she is successfully raising two great kids, keeping our house running (with help from me, by the way, but that is another topic), and is a respected business manager.

There is no problem with women choosing to forego a traditional care in the business world or marketplace to stay home and be the primary caregiver, which, in fact is a job without strict time boundaries. Mom is on duty 24/7 with no sick leave, insurance or vacation pay. This is a role mothers play whether they have a position outside the home or not. Few men give this the amount of consideration they should, so I hope this article will help widen eyes.

The obvious benefit is that their children have their mother’s influence in their daily routine from the time they get out of bed until they go to sleep at night. Child care issues are set aside along with the really substantial fees associated with knowing your child is being taken care of in the manner you desire. This ensures a clean hand off of the values of the household to the children as the mother is with them every moment except for time the children spend at school.

But what of those women who have aspirations to have some time out of the house? Should we immediately declare they cannot be good mothers if they step away from the house for monetary gain? What gives you the right to tell my wife she is not a good mother if she does not spend 24 hours with our children? I feel some time out in the world gives her the emotional and intellectual stimulation necessary to make her stronger and able to handle the problems life presents. There are so many relationships she has developed in twenty years as a cosmetologist that have served her well not only in child rearing, but dealing with life.

In our experience, my wife’s job happened to be one that allowed her to choose her schedule. When my son was born, she was able to limit her work schedule to three days, Thursday, Friday and Saturday. This mean I had him to care for on Saturday, so he was away from us for only two days.

Further making this a palatable situation was the wealth of dependable, caring and trusted care-givers we were blessed to know. One of which was a neighbor to my parents that started keeping children when I was only six months old. She helped shape my childhood and I will always credit her with instilling strong Christian and moral values in me.

Due to changes in my work situation, I got to substitute as the stay at home parent for five years when I started my own home based business. At the time my daughter was two years old, so we developed a great relationship during this time. In my greenhouse business my daughter stole the show as she talked patrons into buying flowers with her enormous charm. I suppose that may have been when I understood just what it means to have a parent at home.

My children are both becoming teenagers now and I do not regret anything we have done with them. My wife has a fulfilling career in the service industry and odes not feel like she has missed out on a significant facet of motherhood by choosing to work. She is modeling a choice for our son and daughter that will now doubt influence their marriages and the choices made by their respective spouses. For us, this was a good choice, but all most decide for themselves.