"Babies do fine when mom works"

iVillage Member
Registered: 09-25-2003
"Babies do fine when mom works"
558
Sat, 03-26-2005 - 11:08am

I just downloaded the empirical article upon which this popular media article is based, but thought I'd post a link to the pop-media article as grist for our mill.


http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,151565,00.html


Thoughts?


Virgo

Virgo
 

Pages

iVillage Member
Registered: 01-05-2005
Thu, 03-31-2005 - 11:01am

I have to be honest. I don't know if my children (who have been in some form of care since 4 and 5 months respectively) are in, or ever were in, "high quality care". But I really don't and never did care much about that.

Before they hit school age all I really cared about was a)were they in a safe healthy environment b)were they happy and having fun. I expected them to be AT LEAST as safe and happy in care as they were anywhere else. But I did expect them to be having MORE fun overall than would be in most other daily life situations I could think of for babies, toddlers and preschoolers. Their care situations passed all that. Kids will certainly achieve b) without a). But the achievement of b) generally means everything else is decent so I left it at those two. To be honest, I'd probaby rate their care situations as "plain old ordinary child care more or less comparable to that as experienced by most kids in the developped word". Generally, I would say the caregivers experience disposition towards childcare, and the availablility of playmates would have probably resulted in their daily care rating being somewhat higher than what kid in more isolated situations receive on this continent. But high quality? No idea.

iVillage Member
Registered: 03-29-2005
Thu, 03-31-2005 - 11:05am

"What point was that? That no husband should be 100% comfortable leaving for work in the morning unless he's bringing the kids with?"

The point was about being honest about one's child care arrangements. Not sure where you got the dh part :)

iVillage Member
Registered: 03-29-2005
Thu, 03-31-2005 - 11:09am
Thank you for being so honest.
iVillage Member
Registered: 05-28-2003
Thu, 03-31-2005 - 11:13am
No, I didn't say that those stats are wrong or that they don't matter. However, you have to admit that stats are limited when it comes to individual situations. Do I really need to explain to you that even though it's "correct" that statistically one should draw a "heads" when flipping a coin 50% of the time, when you flip a coin, it's possible for an *individual* person to come up with more than 50% heads?
PJM posted that for her *individual* situation, the stats don't matter. I said the same for my *individual* situation. Are you truly saying that you know more about our *individual* situations because you've read this study?
iVillage Member
Registered: 09-25-2003
Thu, 03-31-2005 - 11:19am
Technically, it's VirgoGIRL (not virgomom). . .but you can just call me Virgo.
Virgo
 
iVillage Member
Registered: 01-05-2005
Thu, 03-31-2005 - 11:21am
You aren't? Sure you are. Every adult who leaves for work and doesn't take their young kids along, has some child care arrangement about which to be honest. Including of course, the Daddies who leave the children with the Mommies.
iVillage Member
Registered: 09-25-2003
Thu, 03-31-2005 - 11:24am

The problem I have with the 9-12 percent 'high quality' finding is this:


I'm aware of the rating scales used to assess the child care settings and have been trained in how to use them by one of the authors.

Virgo
 
iVillage Member
Registered: 05-28-2003
Thu, 03-31-2005 - 11:24am
<...while still others would OVERestimate the quality of care they provide their children (otherwise WHY would we need CPS)>
nt
iVillage Member
Registered: 05-28-2003
Thu, 03-31-2005 - 11:40am
I'm not surprised at all that the posters here in general are happy with their DC situation (and that they feel it's good quality care). The women on this board (both SAH and WOH), IMO, aren't representative of moms in this country. We tend to be more educated, have a higher SES, and tend to be more involved in parenting. So the WOHMs here tend to be the ones who are vigilent about who takes care of our children. We are the ones who pay top $ for it. We are the ones who research up the wazoo and we are the ones who won't settle for inferior care. I find similar qualities for SAHMs on this board. They are not the "watch TV all day-eat junk food-no thoughts to enriching activities for my child" type of moms.
iVillage Member
Registered: 03-29-2005
Thu, 03-31-2005 - 11:52am

"Again I ask what is your story? Bad othercare experiences? What type?"

No, child care. Only extended family care ((aunts, grandparents) on occasion starting at age 4. Yes, you understood correctly. I didn't leave my child in anyone else's care (not even a family members care) until the age of 4. And no, it had nothing to do with fear, paranoia, religious beliefs, research, etc. LOL. We simply didn't need child care.

"How many kids do you have and their ages?

One, 10 going on 16 LOL. I just can't wait for the teenage years!

"Are you somehow involved with children currently or formerly in a professional capacity?

Does volunteer work count?

"You don't know what goes on with your DH (assuming you have one) when you're not with him, either. You don't let that paralyze you,"

My dh is an adult, he can take of himself. Children are a different story, especially infants and young children.

"so if you've been as careful as possible, and follow up with random/surprise inspections,"

Not sure what you mean by "been as careful as possible," or "random/surprise inspections." Why would I have to be "as careful as possible" with myself/dh? Likewise, how/why would I do "random/surprise inspections," on myself/dh?

"you shouldn't be paralyzed about using othercare either."

When did I say I was paralyzed about using othercare? As I said above, we simply didn't need it.

Pages