feeling guilty about being a working mum?

[karmamother]

look

lol - so what does that research say about my children???

I will be at home when they're awake - but for the entire morning, and part of the afternoon I'll be sleeping - having worked 9.45-7.30am

Hmm.

"The findings will reignite the controversy over whether very young children should spend lengthy periods apart from their mothers in a formal group-based child care setting."

What, based on 56 children aged 3 and 4?

Desperate to ignite controversy, aren't they.

thank goodness - something on my side for a change.

I don't think they are really trying to whip people up into a frenzy of controversy.

It is a very small sample size and a limited range of occupations etc. ie by this sample only 10 of the kids mums was a SAHM.

It does seem logical. I have definately been calmer and more 'fun' with my dd since returning to work. I did find being at home all day a real chore, much harder than going out to work and I think that rubbed off. Usually by the end of the day I was exhausted and crabby. that will have put dds stress levels up I'm sure.

Flum, it's not the researchers I think are trying to whip us up into controversy, it's the Telegraph!

Interestingly, I read an article in the Metro (that's how cheap I am) that only 13% of parents read bedtime stories to their children.
A much smaller percentage of parents than those who have a stay at home parent me thinks.
I read to my DD every night so am being sanctimonious (sp?)all morning despite being a working mum.

Whose editor just flounced out, did you see that Caligula...not over this specific coverage I am sure, but the DT has got "nastier" and more Daily Mailified since that sinister pair of Krayalikes bought it. Conrad Black started the process, the crook...

Duh, completely forgot to say that it is another piece of no doubt well-meaning research that through sample size etc is just going to be used by the media to thump as many parents as poss.

Can't be arsed to get worked up about this sort of article. There always seems to be a plethora of mutally contradictory studies proving either one thing or the direct opposite. I ignore them mostly now.

I think i was trying in a cack handed way to show that being a good parent is not as black and white as being a sahm or a working mum as the percentage of people reading stories (a good indicator in my book) does not tally to the percentage of sahm which is usually held up the media as an indicator of parental goodness.
Hence lets get rid of the guilt shackles and all read bedtime stories.
(I have been infected by Christmas cheer)

Hang on - they only tested 56 children! Not exactly an RCT!

As far as I can see, this research proves nothing about about working or not working, nurseries or not nurseries, but what it does say is children of fulfilled stress-free mothers are less stressed than children of stressed mothers. (and presumably sahkids of happy fulfilled sahms are less stressed, too!)

Durrrrrrrr.

I think the contributors to MN should set up a research project to find out what we all know, and WE should get the fee!

Oh great, more research for me to ignore.

Does anyone actually read these things and then base how they run their lives on them?

'oh it says here I have to leave dd in nursery for precisely 6 hours and 56 minutes and read 3 stories not 2 at night, best say no to that promotion then'

Hello 'twin'

Agreeing with your sentiments there!

load of balloney.

I felt guilty for not sending dd1 to nursery as she is extremely cautious and the woman at the playgroup said 'you can tell she didn't go to nursery'. So I feel bad for sending her to MIL as family is supposed to be 'better'. Then I think get a f88king grip olive, as I wouldn't have been able to afford nursery.

So some 'choices' are made for you and at the end of the day you do what you think is best, not what some researcher tells you is best.

And they all disagree with each other anyway .