Working for Lifestyle/Extras
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| Mon, 11-20-2006 - 11:13am |
Hi Ladies :)
This is my first time on this debate board and I have been dying to jump into some of the topics, but I feel as though they are sooooo long (one in particular is over 1000 replies, yikes!) that starting my own specific one might work out better.
Anyhow, a recurring theme here seems to be what Moms should and shouldn't be going to work for. It seems some are of the opinion that is OK for Mom to work if she must to pay her bills but NOT if its to afford a nice car, house, good neighborhood. This is considered keeping up with the Johnses (who are they???) and thats bad.
Well, I want to know what in the heck is wrong with a women working to have nice things? I don't mean working and leaving baby in child care 16 hours a day, everyday...thats pretty extreme.
I enjoyed a certain lifestyle before having a child, should I have downsized that lifestyle once baby came so I didn't have to work? What about me *wanting* to maintain a certain lifestyle for myself, my husband, and my child makes me a (a) workaholic or (b) striving to keep up with the Joneses?
Don't some people (like myself) simply enjoy living in a nice place with nice things and want their children to have the same experience?
So please, anyone who thinks a women is wrong for WOH if she is not doing so to financially survive but does it to maintain a certain lifestyle...whats wrong with this?
Thanks all :)

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It is similar in Denmark. I think the difference may lie in the issue the article was mainly concerned with, namely working conditions for parents. Maybe it is different in Sweden, but in Denmark flextime is pretty common. Many dual-WOHPs arrange it so that one parent starts work earlier than the other, for example. It is also common for overtime to be done from a home office, and in general people work their 35-40 hours, period. IOW, the working conditions are such that the stress on both parents, kids and overall family logistics tend to be less than in your typical dual-WOHP family in the US.
IOW, going back to a SAHP model is not the only solution.
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Both higher performing and lower performing students can be well served in the same class without ability grouping.
Sabina
Oh, life is a glorious cycle of song,
I think it would take several education courses for you to understand how grouping strategies actually work in education today.
Sabina
Oh, life is a glorious cycle of song,
I have seen it done; in fact, I am currently working with a K-8 population in this model.
Sabina
Oh, life is a glorious cycle of song,
Yes. Sweden is very similar. Work time (including an unpaid lunch) is usually 37-45 hours, but most parents stagger schedules and there is a lot of flex time so one parent is usually home by about 4pm. School does sometimes end quite a bit earlier for 5th and 6th graders. Ds is done with school by 12.30 on Fridays, for example, so when I travel he usually comes home to an empty house. Dh does have the option to work from home if he needs to be home earlier for any reason. However, by 7th grade, school days can go as late as 3.30-4pm, so parents and kids often arrive home around the same time.
I think the main point is that it's not the home alone ("latchkey" kids) part that's the problem, it's the availability. Parents can flex their schedule when needed, which allows them to be more available to children when necessary. Being available doesn't necessarily mean being with one's child every second he/she is out of school, it means having the possibility to be available should the need arise.
I'm not sure where you found the information that he advocates renting instead of purchasing a home. He doesn't in most cases. I have heard him in individual cases tell callers that in their situation "he" would rent for a time period in order to purchase a home in a better area instead of throwing their money down the drain on an old home in need of repairs.
The point about purchasing a home with cash makes more sense to me if one has the resources to do so. DR doesn't advocate doing this if it will create a financial problem for the individual.
"Besides this we have our living prophet, for whom I am grateful, and I hope to follow after him all the days of my life.&
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