Unique contributions to society

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Registered: 01-06-2006
Unique contributions to society
1504
Thu, 10-19-2006 - 4:12pm

In another thread, the "unique" contributions of SAHM's were alluded to but it wasn't stated what they are. Let's play a game and find out what they are. First, pretend that as of tomorrow, all moms SAH and detail what will be missing from society then pretend that all moms go to work and detail what will be missing from society. I'm really curious as to what people think a world without SAHM's orWOHM's would look like.

If all the moms who SAH went to work then the library would move story hour to the evening and summer vacation bible school would be held in the evenings so that all kids can attend and not just the kids of SAHM's. Banks would likely shift their hours to later in the day and you'd see more 24 hour stores. I think there would be more home cooking style restaurants too. I think day care centers would improve because of increased demand.

If all moms who WOH suddenly SAH, you'd see fewer service industries around because moms could do things themselves instead of paying for them. The nursing shortage would be more of a shortage. We'd probably have a shortage of teachers too. There'd be fewer government services because there'd be less tax dollars to pay for them. I can't think of anything else right now.

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Avatar for mom34101
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Registered: 03-27-2003
Fri, 10-27-2006 - 1:46pm
In our district, half-day K is still the norm unless you're in a low-performing school. In that case, the district pays for all-day K. However, other schools can offer all-day K if parents are willing to pay for it, so many of the higher-performing schools also offer it because parents want it. But the district is still required to provide half-day K, so you always have the choice.
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Registered: 03-27-2003
Fri, 10-27-2006 - 1:48pm

Hmm, I don't see that at all. I see both SAH and WOH with nannies (and even SAH with nannies) choosing longer day programs because they feel it's better for their kids. Either because they want longer times for their kids to become comfortable and socialize, or because they want more academics (all of the very academically intense preschools run from 9-3; some parents feel that is very important), or a little of both.

Really, where money isn't a factor I don't see much difference between the preschools chosen by WOH or SAH parents. Some choose longer hours, some don't.

Avatar for mom34101
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Registered: 03-27-2003
Fri, 10-27-2006 - 1:49pm
Yeah, that's what we did when my older dd was in K. She went in the mornings, and then we would come home and have the afternoon to do other things. It gave us a lot more time for playdates and for going places. But I was back at work by the time my younger dd started K, so I put her in the all-day K. She enjoyed it, but it was a different experience than what my older dd had.
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Registered: 06-27-1998
Fri, 10-27-2006 - 2:00pm

....and there are issues that come into play with an

PumpkinAngel

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Registered: 06-30-2006
Fri, 10-27-2006 - 2:06pm
Okay, that's an adorable photo of you!

Sabina

Oh, life is a glorious cycle of song,

iVillage Member
Registered: 06-27-1998
Fri, 10-27-2006 - 2:11pm

Neither is a problem with my children.


PumpkinAngel

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Registered: 11-12-2003
Fri, 10-27-2006 - 2:19pm
Same here. Ds did fine so I never had a problem with it. Most of the kids start K closer to 6 than 5 though. (Except my ds, of course.. LOL)
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Registered: 03-27-2000
Fri, 10-27-2006 - 2:24pm

LOL, dh and I went round and round about whether to pick 1/2 or all day kindergarten. Initially, dh thought we should do full day b/c it would be easier on me logistically, plus ds' preschool teacher said that she felt he would do really well in all day b/c he's very social and an all around good kid, academically, socially and emotionally. I was against it b/c I felt it was just glorified babysitting (similar to what you describe - extra recess, lunch, extra snack, rest period). Then, after talking to all my friends who had kids entering kindy this year, I found out all but one were sending theirs to all day b/c of the logistics (they all have older kids who'd need to be picked up again in the afternoon. Then I got to thinking that all ds' friends would be there all day except for him and these twin girls he went to preschool with. So I was starting to agree with dh about sending him all day. Well then we get the notice from our school (they go to private school) that they were raising tuition and the difference b/w 1/2 and all day was around $1700K! So, that ended that discussion!

It ended up working out great b/c I now carpool with the mother of the twins whose 2nd grade dd is one of my dd's friends. So she picks the kindergartners off, then in the afternoon I pick up the 2nd graders. Occasionally we trade - today I picked up the kindergartners, and the twins are here having a playdate and their mom will pick them up when she drops off my dd. Plus, it turned out that the 1/2 day class only has 15 kids while the three all day classes have 22, so we have a better teacher student ratio!

LOL about preschool being longer than kindy - ours were the same when there was afternoon kindy (3 hrs) but now that they got rid of PM kindy and only have AM kindy, they added an extra 1/2 hr to the day. Oh, the other benefit to having ds go in the morning to kindy is that my 3 y/o has a playmate now in the afternoons (he goes to AM preschool 2x per week).

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Registered: 06-27-1998
Fri, 10-27-2006 - 2:26pm

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I agree for the most part with your first sentence, there is a general range and one should look to their child and not age restrictions or age allowances, imo.

PumpkinAngel

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Registered: 03-27-2000
Fri, 10-27-2006 - 2:26pm
Ironically, my older two would have done well in all day kindergarten, but we chose to send them 1/2 day for a variety of reasons. My third will not have the option, and he's the one who would probably benefit from only going 1/2 day but what can I do? If we had gone to public school, all of my kids would have been required to go all day. That's great that you still have the choice!

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