View From the Childless Side

Written By: Kari Duddeck

There is a big different between the two other members of my group and myself. They are both mothers and I am not. My thoughts on mothers staying home with their children or going back to work are going to be slightly different than theirs. I don't have the slightest idea what I would decide to do if I were placed in the situation of having to make the decision to stay home with my child or go back to my career. I like to think that I would be okay with placing my child in daycare and returning to my career. I feel that after I have spent a lot of my hard earned money on an education I should put that education to use and pursue my career. I think that there are a lot of mothers out there who have their first child and then they make the decision to place that child in daycare and they continue with their career. For some mothers a second child changes everything. If a mother decides to have a second child all of a sudden daycare fees have doubled along with expenses for everything from diapers to food. A lot of families need to rethink their decision and the role that daycare has in their life. Some families may decide that the mother should stay home with the children in order to save on the daycare costs. Another family may also decide that with another mouth to feed the extra income the mother will bring in is worth the added daycare costs. This just reiterates the idea that there is no universal right or wrong answer. Each individual family is different and has to think about the pros and cons of the mother working or not and make the decision for themselves. It is hard to think about what I would do if I were in this situation. I am not sure what my family situation will be. Will I have 1 child or will I have 6 children? There are so many different factors to take into consideration. I don't think it is possible to make a decision until the time comes.