Comments on: A Mom By Any Other Name

By: some free great stuff

some free great stuff — Thu, 17 Nov 2011 06:16:12 +0000

Admirable piece of writing..

By: عکس روز

عکس روز — Thu, 10 Nov 2011 15:45:56 +0000

I could not think you are more right!!!

By: Have fun online

Have fun online — Tue, 11 Oct 2011 18:41:59 +0000

What a truly fun writing

By: Jody

Jody — Sun, 14 Sep 2008 19:40:12 +0000

Parents are the experts on their children. We are the consumers of education and medical professionals. The professionals are too quick to forget that without us, they would not get pay checks. We are tax payers and pay for health care insurance and they need to be listening and respecting us more as we are in a sense their employers. It’s time that parents stand up for their children and address the things in our society that are happening to our children as we stand by and nod our heads and let the professionals diagnosis and treate our children the way they think they know is best based on their text books. Parents have an intuition that we have forgotten and need to start listening to. No one knows our children better than us! Think about it…when you hold another persons baby and the baby starts to cry, what do you do? We all (proffessionals included) automatically give it back to the parent. Do you know why? Because the parent is the expert of that child, and most of them do not have a degree…think about it….

By: Lela

Lela — Mon, 14 Apr 2008 13:32:48 +0000

Kids are being ‘wharehoused’? Hmm, that’s nothing new. Years ago they were shipped off to farms or boarding schools or wet nurses. The days of ‘child centered’ families and parenting are upon us and within the context of civilization, a relatively new concept.

Sadly, women are still fighting off the 1950′s ‘little mother’ stereotype, where a child’s every developmental glitch is seen somehow as the mother’s failing to be loving enough, attentive enough, stay-at-home enough, etc.

God forbid a women should have other interests beyond the household and perhaps, want to be valued for other things besides the ability to nurture and wipe noses.

By: Julio Jurenito

Julio Jurenito — Tue, 19 Feb 2008 02:03:50 +0000

Thank you for quoting, sallyo. (It’s Julio, not Julie.)

Becoming a mother and being a good mother are not the same. I have encountered numerous lousy ones, by virtue (if you call it that) of my profession. Many idiotic professors too… sigh

By: Mark Ducharme

Mark Ducharme — Tue, 19 Feb 2008 01:52:45 +0000

“the outmoded view that moms are nothing more than the emotional and nutritional providers for their children.”

WOW! Millions of kids being warehoused for the sake of moms career can now be grateful their mom is so much more than that. What is this,an outline for the upcoming Broadway smash,”The Icequeen Cometh”?

Well,I guess this attitude is better than abortion…I guess…though not as “cosmopolitan”. Man,I got the chills from this.Time to put on an extra sweater, or two. “Mommy, I’m so glad you’re happy being a professor! And thank you so much,perfesser, for making my buwoney samwich…EVWY SINGO DAY UV DA WEEK! Oh and, don’t forget to write.”

Luv you mommy dearest, oops, I mean, “perfesser”.Sawy.

By: sallyo

sallyo — Mon, 18 Feb 2008 17:29:07 +0000

Great article! Though this quote from Julie made me laugh: “Our society values motherhood and professorship differently. This is not because of some inherent inequalities. Simply, one takes more effort to achieve than another. Any human with two ovaries can become a mother (well, almost any), but it still takes a degree of effort to obtain a PHD.”
My husband and I have raised a blended family of 8 very lively, strong-willed, intelligent people who are productive, law-abiding members of society (including 4 who have served or are currently serving in the military). I also have to work outside the home, and am currently going to school part-time to finish a degree.
I have to tell you that even though my job and school take a great deal of effort and are both very satisfying to me personally, NOTHING has been more challenging, exciting, or worthwhile than raising children. I am so proud of who they are becoming and feel that they have been worth every sleepless night, every tear, every “sacrifice.” My favorite T-shirt says it all: “Motherhood is not for wimps.”
For those who do not have children: your lives are also important and valuable, and, I hope, fulfilling. So much about life depends on attitude rather than the circumstances we find ourselves in.
Maybe what we need to do is look beyond the label, celebrate those things we have in common, learn from different perspectives, and realize that we all have something to contribute.

By: Heather

Heather — Fri, 15 Feb 2008 22:44:31 +0000

I found this article really interesting, because my experience (admittedly, in the Midwest), is that any woman who *isn’t* a mom is a no-status, worthless piece of cat-excrement, regardless of education, job title, professional achievements, etc. Any conversation with a new co-worker or neighbor ends immediately after I admit I have no children (too ugly to get married, too stupid to get knocked up out of wedlock). I could freaking cure cancer, and the obit in my hometown paper would read “Heather wasted her entire life doing absolutely nothing, and is survived by nephews and nieces.”

So I’m totally baffled by both the letter-writer, and Professor McKenna insisting mothers get no respect. Maybe y’all just need to move out of your “cosmopolitan” cities and to somewhere where you’re worshipped, just like I had to move to a city so I wouldn’t be ostracized completely.

By: Eilish

Eilish — Fri, 15 Feb 2008 17:37:46 +0000

Great article! I’m a full time homemaker and, though I used to be a professional woman, I see the world a lot more as a mom! You are very right about banishing the idea that moms do nothing but stay at home. I have seen more museums, gardens, parks, beaches, aquariums, farmers markets and more as a mom than I ever did as a full time educator.

I guess if you think children are boring or a chore, being a “stay-at-home” mom could be tedious, but then, why did you have children to begin with? If you see children as fun, interesting little individuals who have a curiosity about the world the same as you, the possibilities for fun and intellectual stimulation are endless. Yes, you need to have other parent friends with the same outlook on parenthood, but there are lots of places to meet people if you try.