The Importance Of Mothers
|
|
Moms, did you ever question your value as a role model, caretaker, administer of hugs and Band-Aids? I think we all have in today's climate of "do more, get more, have more." Many of us work to bring home a paycheck and others work for our sanity. Have you ever wondered if your children were better off with the baby sitter than you? Scientific studies are beginning to point to the overwhelming value of a mother's love, hugs and support. Nannies, baby-sitters and relatives are terrific. They just aren't as terrific as Mom.
I have had the best of both worlds, I suspect. I worked a high-powered executive job until my older daughter was 2 and a half. At a crossroads in my career, I opted to "get pregnant and stay home for a year." HA! Little did I realize I was about to take a ten-year hiatus from my much-loved life! I didn't get pregnant right away, but, after having spent a year basking in the glow of being Mom, I couldn't bear giving up the care and nurturing of my daughter to another nanny, no matter how wonderful. I think it was the best career move of my life.
Well, ten years later, I am back in the work force and thriving. Yes, I felt bored much of the time. Yes, our family sacrificed the bigger house, fancier cars and vacations some of our peers were enjoying. But it was a conscious decision to sacrifice for the benefit of our children. We wanted our morals, our ethics and our life lessons to influence our children.
I think moms can work at home, be homemakers or work outside of the home and still be great moms. The most important part of mothering, I feel, is being there for our children. Maybe your sacrifice is going to work but spending your precious little free time reading your child a bedtime story every night, taking him to the park on Saturdays or chaperoning your daughter's school dance. What matters is our input, the confidence in our roles as mothers and knowing we are the best person for the role ... to understand how valuable we are to society.
Pat yourselves on the backs ... you've accomplished a miracle! There is no greater sacrifice on earth, in my opinion, than making the decision to be a parent. Know how important you are. Know that your children need you to be as solid an individual as you can be. Therein lies your strength as a mother, whether you spend all day at home or in an office. We are all exceptional women in our motherhood.
Copyright ? 2000-2004- Rexanne Mancini
Rexanne Mancini is the mother of two daughters, Justice and Liberty. She is a novelist, freelance writer and maintains an extensive yet informal parenting and family web site, Rexanne.com ? http://www.rexanne.com Visit her site for good advice, award-winning Internet holiday pages and some humor to help you cope. Subscribe to her free newsletter, Rexanne's Web Review, for a monthly dose of Rexanne: http://www.rexanne.com
|
|
|
Why Me?
Why Me?"We should certainly count our blessings, but we should also make our blessings count."--Neil MaxwellYesterday morning, my family and I got up at 5:30am in Mexico to begin our journey home from a holiday retreat. Eight hours of packing, driving, flying, and standing in line later, we arrived at the airport in Los Angeles physically intact but emotionally a b...(related: Parenting)
Real Monsters Under Your Bed
There may really be a real monster under your kidâ??s bed!Seriously, they could actually be there!If you are a parent you have heard about monsters under the bed and in the closet. There was even a movie about Monsters coming into kidâ??s bedrooms through the closet. They were collecting screams, or some such.There are many unknown underlying problems that can keep a chi...(related: Parenting)
Parenting Your Teenager: How To Respond To Manipulation
Q. My daughter has gotten very good at manipulating us, and sometimes we do not even know it has happened until much later. How can we tell if we are being manipulated, and how can we stop it, or at least handle it better?A. Here's the thing about teens and manipulation:The average 15-year-old is 15 going on 25 and 15 going on 5 al...(related: Parenting)
Potty Training ?to Train Or Not To Train?
I have always found the notion of toilet training a toddler to be a bit much. I didn't feel right about pushing my girls to do something I felt would eventually come naturally. At three years old, both my girls were potty trained ... not because I read books and raced them to the porcelain each time I suspected they should go. They knew what the potty was for. They knew when they had to go. They'd figure it out on their own! Well, by golly, they did!Sure, we went a little stupid each time they were successful users of the throne and they got rewards and accolades just like the kids who were pu...(related: Parenting)
A Quiz For Parents: What Are They Really Learning?
Picture this. Your child comes home with a special assignment from school. He's very excited about it and puts in a lot of time to perfect it. He's thrilled with the result and can't wait to take it to school.A few days later, he comes through the door, picks a fight with a younger sibling and bursts into tears. Finally, he manages to tell you that the project he was so proud of was 'unacceptable,' that the teacher wants him to do it over.What's your first reaction?a) Protective - "I'll straighten this out."b) Embarrassed - "MY son always gets good grades."c) ...(related: Parenting)
Character Education
Every parent wants their child to develop positive character traits. One way to supplement your child's character education is to act as a filter for the movies and television shows your chil...(related: Parenting)
Diapers: Do You Choose Disposable Or Reusable?
Diapers..Changing a dirty diaper is not the best part of having a baby, but there's no escaping it. And you'd better get used to it - you'll be changing around 5,000 diapers before baby's potty trained!The first question is whether to use disposable diapers or reusable. In a nutshell, disposables are less trouble, more expensive, and not environmentally friendly.Your Granny wouldn't recognise a reusable diaper today. Gone are the cotton squares and safety pins, replaced by shaped cotton inside a waterproof outer cover and fastened with velcro. Flushable liners hold solids. Reusables will save you the best part of $1000 and that's after including the cost of washing.If you want to be kind to the planet but can't face all the washing, another option ...(related: Parenting)
Teaching Reading: Part One
One of the biggest milestones in our children's education is when they learn how to read. You've probably asked yourself, "When is the best time to teach my child to read?" You can research this until you are blue in the face, but the answer is really very simple. You've already started, because from the moment...(related: Parenting)
Why Fathers Are Such A Necessary Component In The Raising Of Their Children.
The first year of a child's life is the most crucial time for Dad's to be present and loving and hugging his child. According to clinicians in the first year of birth babies relate to behaviors not language.The most important thing a father can do for his children is to develop a strong relationship with their mother and with his children. Relationship is what separates the strong family from the dysfunctional family. A child needs a strong relationship with his/her father far more than ...(related: Parenting)
Guilty Of Not Following Her Heart
Karen, a single never-married thirty-year old attorney has a four-year old daughter, whom she just picked up from her parents' home after another all-day affair in court.Like every Thursday, Karen took her daughter, Anna, to McDonald's for dinner, which was a very special mother-daughter bonding time. Karen ordered a salad for her and a kid's meal for Anna. To Anna's delight, the kid's meal came with some crayons. While they were eating, Anna turned over the paper trayl...(related: Parenting)
site-map - Copyright © 2006 | Contact Webmaster | Baby Care Info | All Rights Reserved. | Parenting