OT: Checking in - Hello did you all miss me!!!

Yay! Well done! :)

And healing hand waves to the sliced hubby!

Michelle,

Wow sounds like lots going on at your house. Wonderful news on the job. Glad also that the baby is adjusting to daycare. She will love the jammies. Sounds like a really cute plan you have there. ;)

Sorry about your hubby's hand. I have sympathy pains for him. Made me cringe when I read that. Then I thought about the no housework part....... That almost makes the whole thing worth it!!! LOL!!!!!!!!! Hope he heals up soon.

Remember to take time to take care of yourself too, sweetie!

Sharon

Welcome back, Michelle and congratulations on the new job.

That's terrible about your DH's hand...ouch! Glad he is ok.

-Irene

-------------- You only live once, but if you do it right, once is enough.=20

--Mae West=20

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Congratulations, Michelle! You rock!

I was so sorry to hear about your DH's cut thumb, I went right away and nicked mine slicing potatoes. At least, that's my excuse.

Doreen in Alabama

I am so happy

You only live once, but if you do it right, once is enough.

Since you brought it up here, I will comment.

Like your MW quote says: "You only live once". But your 2 yr. old only lives once as well. You seem very happy about "your position", having mentioned it twice. How about the "position" you're placing your child in? Your DH's instincts are right, your place is with her now.

All our kids are grown and have children also, and they still mention the fact that their mom was always there for them. We got by on less and never regretted her decision to fill completely the most important "position" there is or ever will be, that of being a Mother.

JPBill

Congratulations! Your timing was good, too, with the DH getting himself injured and not able to work.

I was always a working mom -- and I think my kids are grateful. They relate to me now as adults with respect for my knowledge and opinions. They know that I was able to function in the world where they do. Some women do well staying at home, but it was not for me. I don't have a domestic bone in my body. ;-)

Hmm....the 'ending' of the post which you are referring to is mine, not Michelle's.=20

-Irene

-------------- You only live once, but if you do it right, once is enough.=20

--Mae West=20

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I was both a stay at home and working mom. When my children were small I worked when my husband could be home. As the grew in age and number I stayed home for many years. I loved my kids dearly but needed an outlet. So I volunteered. Family circumstances and mom's personal needs also have to be considered. Walk in our shoes before you judge what is right for a family. Juno

You have no idea (nor do I) of anyone else's home/financial situation and no right to judge. My mom SHOULD have had an outside job. She would have been much happier, and so would us kids. I won't go into details, but you seem to assume all stay at home moms are Mrs. Cleaver, when they are not.

YOu are also assuming every other mother is financially & emotionally able stay at home and care for their children. Some of us have to work in order to carry insurance (another way to care for children and families) because the DH's job doesn't have it. Some of us work in order to help us be emotionally and psychologically able to be a good parent. Maybe a job would have helped Andrea Yates...who knows? But I do know my kids are healthy, happy, and thriving. ANd they have never said anything negative about my working. Why on earth do we tell our baby girls they can grow up to be anything they want and then slap them when they decide follow through with it and want a career? =20

If your DH wants the kids to be home, then why can't he do it? Nothing is keeping HIM from being the stay at home parent. Why should this responsibility fall only onto the woman?=20

Sorry, this assuming everyone should be in the same mindset in regards to raising kids is a pet peeve of mine.

-Irene =20

-------------- You only live once, but if you do it right, once is enough.=20

--Mae West=20

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Hi Michelle. Nice to see you back and hear you got the job. Sorry about your dh, but, he'll heal up eventually (are you SURE it isn't an unconscious ploy for your attention????????)

Stop in and say hello when you can.

Olwyn Mary in New Orleans.

Whoa! I do believe that I said that some women do well staying home. Different strokes for different folks. What works for you may or may not work well for someone else. I do not judge what is good for you or anyone else. I can only judge what is good for me.

Joanne, it was not you I was answering. I'm sorry I put my response in the wrong place, it should have been addressed to JP Bill's comments.I always feel that he wants all to stay at home, be barefoot and pregnant and in the kitchen moms and keep our mouths shut. I for one believe and taught my daughters and son that each family has to do what's best for the family and not what someone else decides what best. Please accept my apologies. I agree with you with all my heart. Juno

OK, that makes sense. ;-) You had me reeling for a minute. LOL!

You should only reel after a few glasses of Merlot. Next time I'll send it along. :-) Juno

That's a deal.

Juno is wrong about me wanting to place and keep women in the role mentioned. Just the opposite, in fact. I have always championed women in the workplace before it was fashionable, in a heavy-industry setting, no less, where the "good old boy network" was institutionalized. And I was able to do so in Corporate HR for a multinational company. I had mixed success there, sadly. Career development was my bag and my personal views were separate from my job, I will add.

My post was a call for some patience in mom's career development at the expense of a 2 yr old's development. Economics in the household apparently wasn't an issue, since DH wanted her to stay home, but she "wasn't about to".

Donna Shalala was always one of my heroes since she became Chancellor of my Alma Mater, the University of Wisconsin. And she was later appointed by President Clinton to head Health and Human Services, you may remember.

She addressed the 100th meeting of the national PTA in 1996. I have the same concerns now she had then, especially since the situation is more acute now. I obviously didn't express them in my post as well as she, although some here will disagree with her as well.

At least part of her address can be seen at:

The hand that rocks the cradle rules the world.

I don't know who originally said it but I agree with it wholeheartedly. I just wish I could have stayed with my son and had more. But God has intervened to put him on the path I wanted him to be on. For which I am forever thankful, AK in PA

I'm with you on this one, Irene, all the way. I'm a stay-at-home, but I work - at home. It suits me and mine. DH is also a part time work from homer - the rest of the week he away over several nights! You have to do what suits.

I have friends who work, both male and female, for financial as well as other reasons. I have one set of friends where she is disabled and works full time, while he is fully fit and stays home with the kids, working part time from home while they are out at school. I have other friends where she has always worked full time and is a far better mother and person for it! She'd go mad in a week if at home all the time. We do what suits.

As an officer's wife in the 50's and 60's, my mum wasn't allowed to work. The only officer's wives who were given permission to work (at the discretion of the CO!) were teachers, lawyers, and doctors, and other similar professionals: most were NOT given permission, even if finances were horribly tight. The only nurse I knew who worked was a specialist paediatric nurse, and they are always in short supply! Most of those professional women would have LOVED to work - especially with older kids off at boarding school (sent, as I and my siblings were, so alliviate the disruption caused by a perepatetic millitary life - I went to 10 different schools as it was, and my older sister went to 14!) My mum wasn't allowed to work until the mid seventies, when we were all of either at boarding school or at college, and they needed the extra cash to help us out.