WOH/Kids/Feminism: WDYT?
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| Tue, 02-08-2005 - 9:06am |
Okay, let's debate something else. One morning a few months ago, I was crabby to DH about having to get ready for work. DH said, "Well, if you don't want to go to work, quit!"
Later that day, I told him I was just venting, and then I told him some of the reasons I really do like WOH. One reason was something to the effect that I wanted to WOH as part of at-home feminism for our DD's. He said he had no idea what I was talking about.
I thought about it some and decided that although this is a heartfelt idea for me, it's still fuzzy. I suppose I meant that I want to show my DDs how to live independently of a man, in the sense of income, ability to make one's way in the world, and so on, even if they choose marriage & kids. My feelings of pride in my own mom, who was a WOH mom, come into it, too.
Caution: I don't mean in any way to suggest anything the least bit negative about SAH moms. That's not what this is about. Nor do I mean to suggest that anyone has to WOH to teach their kids feminist or gender neutral values. That's not what this is about, either.
Do you think there's any value in WOH as part of raising kids? Please help me clarify my thinking.
Sabina

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My MIL now has 2 masters from a college that costs $650 per credit.
Mondo
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I'm sorry, but when you say something like this, dismissing the opinions of people because they experienced trauma in childhood, you are going to be debated. Such a strong attachment to an object, in the absence of any similar feelings about people, is hardly evidence of a utopian childhood.
Grew up on a little island anchored in the SF East Bay. I jogged and/or walked on the beach every day through all of high school, college and well into my adult life.
Went to school at an East Bay university that overlooked the SF Bay. Spent many hours on the hill reading and staring off into the vast horizon.
Routinely visited the ocean throughout my adult life in order to "clear my head."
Walked my entire pregnancy on the beach.
Walked the entire first year of my son's life with him in the snuggly on the beach.
Moved to the East Coast. I live one half hour from the Atlantic Ocean. Now I routinely take DS and the dogs for walks on the beach.
Without the ocean near me, I would die. It's my soul. I wouldn't give it up for anything -- not even so I could SAH. I hope DS feels the same when he grows up.
mom_writer
What are you wishing to debate?
My blissful childhood?
How wrong I am to have the feelings I do about my childhood?
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And my point is that it's not the trauma associated with the sale of the home that is so odd. What's odd is the absence of any such strong feelings associated with acutal relationships. Friends move, pets die, kids leave beloved teachers behind, grandparents die, loves are not requited, friendships realign.
It's odd to me that someone would claim to get through childhood without any of those formative experiences.
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