Christina Odone on Today this morning.

[OrmIrian]

Nothing like a good old fume and shout with your toast.

Please could someone answer the question that she failed to - how does giving help and choice to working mothers, take anything away from those who choose not to work?

Because I'm buggered if I can work it out.

I am missing your point Anna. What exactly do you think WOHMS are getting that SAHMS are not?

Nothing, yet. I think you haven't read the thread!

No I have read the thread. I don't think childcare vouchers are meant to give mothers time to themselves Its ridiculous to argue if WOHMS or SAHMS have the most time to themselves. It depends on the individuals circumstances. If you are a SAHM who want to poo in piece, then surely just pop into the local gym and use their creche for a few hours? Would be very unfortunate if baby took first step while in creche so you were not there to see though

No-one on this thread is having that argument, FairyMum - unless you are trying to start it by stirring .

"Most FT WOHMs do get some child-free time to ring the bank, shop etc on their journey to work or in their lunch hour. A lot of SAHMs can go for a very long time indeed without spending a second on their own. I know, it happened to me."

Just this made me giggle a bit Anna.

Sorry, forgot to add the

See, you are trying to stir .

If you want to get rid of some aggression (and you obviously do - understandably, you life is very burdened) why don't you go for a run or something?

One sensible point Cristina Odone does make is that part time working is a choice that many parents would like to make (and non-parents actually) and it's a choice that's largely unavailable unless you're willing to take unskilled manual work.

So why aren't decent part time jobs available?

Is it due to the regulations on part time workers that Harriet Harman was so proud of? Or is it just a lack of imagination on the part of employers?

Either way, it's almost impossible to find a NEW job advertised on a part time basis.

Let's hope HH isn't looking for part time work anytime soon!

or pop down to the gym and have a poo?

thats the funniest thing I've ever read on here

and fairymum, do you mean poo in piece (ugh) or poo in peace?

( god I love that post!)

"and fairymum, do you mean poo in piece (ugh) or poo in peace?"

LOL Both maybe.

Good post Dubh. More jobs suitable for parents (or should I say suitable for children) should be available. The problem in the UK is not that parents work, but that parents work too many hours and leave children in childcare too many hours IMO

FM, I'm still sitting here smiling!!

It reminds me of a post I made many moons ago about using my new George Foreman grill and how long it takes to cook chicken on it. BUT I made the mistake of calling it a George Formby grill and I couldn't understand all the 's I got back! Took me ages to figure that one out ...

did someone mention my name???

No no SSD it's a poo at Paul's!

May I just say again that part-time working isn't ideal. Not iME. My employers were very flexible and understanding and I was able to work from home a lot but still, I ended up short-changing them and my DC - never being able to do all the things I needed and wanted to do.Always having to leave meetings early to pick the DC up. Being frazzled and stressed when I picked the kids and not able to enjoy being with them. Still having to miss most school events. And doing all the evening chores because I was the one there .

Personally I wouldn't recommend it to anyone. Going back full-time was such a relief.

PT might not be ideal for everyone, but there isn't a single solution that's perfect for everyone.

A 20-25 hour week that fits with school hours would be a massive improvement for many parents who currently have no choice between SAHM or WOHM (FT).

And once you've left the workforce entirely it can be INCREDIBLY difficult to get a job anything like the one you left.

If nothing else, it's an incredible waste of talent.