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08/14/2013
Even though my mom encouraged us to have careers, I always knew my foremost goal was to be a mom and I met my future husband early in college. While dating, I firmly established that if we married and had a child together, I wanted to have freedom - (Hmm, isn't that what feminism was supposed to be fighting for?) - to stay at home with our baby. He readily complied and has been a steady provider and protector of our family for over 20 years.
When my first child was young, I went back and get my teaching degree figuring that I would have the same schedule as my children if I went that route. Lo-and-behold, during my first year of full-time teaching as a High School English teacher, I became pregnant with our second child and that was when I discovered you, Dr. Laura. I stayed at home with my baby and thereafter learned that substituting when my children were in school was the most compatible job for me to have.
Meanwhile, both my older brother and younger sister decided they needed to meet Mr. and Mrs. Perfect and left numerous suitable prospects in the dust in their 20's. They even boomeranged back to our parents' home. They are now married and both my sister-in-law and sister are big believers in putting their babies in day care within months after birth. Currently my sister is not talking to me because the last 2 times I talked to her, I told her I knew she could find a way to stay at home with her babies if she really wanted to do that. I have even offered free babysitting to her so she could do a job working mostly on weekends when her husband could take the kids. It is amazing to me that after the tens of thousands of dollars she has spent to conceive this child by IVF, that she is now willing to put the child in day care when the baby is only 4 months old. What are people thinking these days that they think this is okay?!?
I am so happy my husband and I are on the same page with this. I truly hope other men step up to the plate to insist on financially taking care of their families and that their wives not only accept but welcome them doing so.
Brenda
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