If I have a strong opinion about anything, this is it.

I found on online article yesterday title, "Working moms: Don’t feel guilty
Why you shouldn’t feel bad about using child care for your kids." This immediately got my attention as I am incredibly concerned about the state of our society's approach to parenting these days. There is a new book out that has the specific purpose of convincing mothers that they should not feel guilty about being a working mom.

As I began reading through this article, I had to laugh when I read the following line, "It turns out that children can gain a lot when both parents work: independence and self-confidence, cognitive and social skills, and strong connections with two parents — not just one." Are we forcing our children to independence by throwing them into someone else's care every day? What happened to teaching kids how to have independent play time and quiet time at home even when other things were going on? What happened to interacting with your children and engaging in learning activities to develop their cognitive functioning? This process was started with me very early on in my life. I was blessed by a stay at home mom, and I have always felt equally as close to my dad as my mom even though I saw much less of him throughout the day.

This excerpt later in the article brings me great sadness:
"There are some things you may not know that can help you get a lot more comfortable with being a working parent — they've certainly helped us. For example, working mothers and at-home mothers don't spend drastically different amounts of time interacting with their kids. Nonemployed moms do spend far more hours in the house with their children. But it turns out that working moms spend only 20 percent less time than their at-home peers in "social interaction" with kids-playing games or reading books versus making dinner while the kids run around outside."

It continues on to discuss the higher academic achievements of children in childcare. Does no one else see the bigger problem here? Many parents don't interact with and teach their kids anymore...that is disturbing. I must say that it really is confirmation of what I suspected after working in a public school for several years.

I understand that it is more difficult to have a stay at home parent these days (there are more and more stay at home dads out there even though this book is written to mothers). Currently, it would be difficult for one of us to stay at home full-time if we had any children. This is one of the important determining factors of when and if we will have kids. I know that it is possible for kids to develop just fine while being placed in childcare; however, I think that this book is an attempt to justify a societal trend that is not okay in my books. Too many people refuse to take responsibilty for their children anymore. As a society, we are always looking for someone else to pass the responsibility off to...childcare providers, teachers, church, sports programs, and other extra curricular activities. One of the driving forces that led me out of the field of education was the thought that if a child was not making adequate academic progress, it must be the teacher's fault. Forget the fact that not once did the parent take the time to pick up a book and read to the child or engage in other learning opportunities.

Yes, I have a very strong opinion on this subject. Our parenting tactics are in a state of crisis right now. I know that there are wonderful parents out there...in fact, I know many...but we can't ignore the unfortunate trend that is doing incredible damage to our children. That is something we should feel guilty for. It isn't about being a working parent or a stay at home parent in itself, it is about the lack of investment we have in their lives.