being a mum/mom in the US - this makes me want to express solidarity

[hatwoman]

I was actually quite moved by this article in the Grauniad. I wonder if mn hq could put a link (an official one on a banner) to their website . It really makes me angry that a country like the US can be so backwards.

Earlybird, I think you'll find your DC will probably go on field trips in the States to.

I find that in the States most people don't have to work the same sort of hours they do here so that offsets the short vacation times a bit.

Quite right Hatwoman.

Hatwoman - I agree with you, it's not one of MN's finest moments. Some really nasty comments on here. I hadn't seen it as a life in UK vs USA thread, but one about mother's lives elsewhere.

Exactly - I agree one hundred percent that criticising a lack of things like maternity leave/equal pay and rights does NOT mean that you are basically saying you loathe the whole country.

IME (or should that be in DH's experience) working hours vary in the US just as they do in the UK depending on where in the country you work, how far you have to travel and what sort of job you do.

I have spent time staying with people who work in NYC and Washington DC and they have pulled all-nighters just like similar people would do in London.

DH worked in California and Virginia and everyone did 8-4/5-ish. If the surf's up, you might not even work those hours! Work-life balance was great. And as SofiaAmes says, all the shops are open so late, you can all go out and do a family shopping trip/cinema visit plus dinner when the worker comes home.

IME life outside the UK seems so much more relaxed. IN Australia, NZ and the US there's not the frantic-ness that surrounds Christmas for example. I'd rather live in any of those places - or Canada - than here in the UK. DH - Kiwi - wouldn't.

paula - I guess I didn't make my point very well. Wasn't implying that dd won't go on field trips in the USA, just that they'll be of a different nature than what is on our doorstep here in London.

Maybe I'm oblivious, but I haven't found the conflicting opinions here to be 'nasty'.

SofiaAmes, yes you remembered rightly, I do have a ds with sn, and thanks for all your help with that last yr, (& yr before).

Hatwoman, sorry about the highjack and the nasty comments, but that's mumsnet for you I'm afraid.

So anyway, I am glad that these mothers have formed this organisation, and I think it would be a really good thing if people in the States had better maternity rights. No country is perfect, but I think it must be very difficult to have to make the choice between giving up your job/returning to work with a tiny, tiny, tiny baby at home/in childcare.

Hatwoman,
I'm sorry that your up-set at how this thread has "developed".
I found your links very interesting as a MUM in the US.
On the whole I do find attitudes to be a little more conservative shall we say and I got a real good feeling reading through that web site, I've added it to my Favorites.

It'll all change once Hilary gets in

Thankyou Hatwoman for sharing that website

hi hatwoman, I've had momrising among my favourites for some time now. I found it a great example of women's solidarity.

Oh, hatwoman, I'm sorry...

With regard to your original post, I do this its good to have an organisation like momsrising . Anything that helps raise awareness of the difficulties of mother/ parenthood has to be a good thing.

When I lived and worked in the U.S. I had three small children and I worked. I used to to the daycare run, stop for coffee, network with friends and clients on my car phone. Go to the office, network somemore. Attend brunch or lunch meetings, have planning sessions and delegate work out then I'd get the kids between 2.30 - 3pm.

We were rarely at home in the evenings, too many nice parks, swimming pools, cafes, bar-b-ques in neighbours gardens....extremely social lifestyle. Life was very good indeed.

Here, we seem to spend a lot of 'home-time' planning and longing for holidays just to experience that same feeling of freedom we felt when we lived and worked full time in America. I think the 'work to live' ethic is a little misunderstood. The aim is to enjoy your work so much that your whole family and social life is intertwined with it. It is really hard to explain.

I guess I'm happier with the idea of this being a "hi-jack" as opposed to being about what I had started it about, if that makes sense. I agree that there are some people who US/American-bash and I guess that was bound to come up, but - although my precise wordings might have been a bit ill-thought through it was so not my intention. heigh ho

It has been an interesting conversation. I think the most important thing to remember is that the United States, is just that, a collection (or unity) of 50 states with varying characters, populations, cultures AND laws. For the most part you really can't make statements that apply uniformly to the whole country. I would suggest thinking about it like the EU which is a collection of countries with widely varying internal laws and cultures etc. while still have some EU wide overriding laws and customs.

Sofia thats exactly it

God bless America.

Do you think we could get an American Flag emoticon?