First of all, I'd like to say that the whole blogging world is completely new to me, so this will be an experience in itself! I'm writing for my Women's Studies semester-long project, but also as a way to bridge the gap between the things I'm learning about in class and what's actually going on in the lives of women. As a student at St. Olaf College, I've spent a lot of time learning very useful information, but how does that apply to real people?
Since the class has revolved around the topic of women and work, I decided to focus my research on maternal employment and cognitive development of children. So after all of the academic research I've done, I want to know what women are really feeling when it comes to leaving their children in daycare to pursue their careers. I'm planning on keeping this blog for a month to send out the information I've learned in class and hopefully get comments and opinions of women in particular, but really anyone who can relate to the subject.
What are some of the issues that moms are facing with regards to work and childcare? How does this align with the research I've done? How can academic research be useful for moms? These are all questions that I'm hoping to answer in the process of my month-long blog. I hope that this project can serve to quench my curiousity and provide a source of information and debate for all of you!
About Me
- CuriousK
- As a 21 year old student, I realize I don't have the experience of being a mother, but my women's studies classes have made me wonder what women are really facing in their everday lives. More than anything, I like to ask questions and using people as my main resource to get them answered.
Your project is really interesting to me! I grew up in a country (Norway) where the norm is for moms to return to full time work after a full year off on paid parental leave. Daycares are subsidized by the state and all children are guaranteed a spot. I always assumed I'd return to full time work myself, if I were to become a mom.
ReplyDeleteI've always resented the high cost of daycares in the US, preventing many families from sending their children to daycare. For many (most?) it's not a real option, financially.
When I had Lilly almost two years ago, I knew I wouldn't feel ready sending her to daycare after a year of being home with her, even though the days get long and tedious and hard. It just didn't feel right to me. Suddenly I appreciated the fact that there's more diversity in the US, that some families send their children to daycares, others not.
On the other hand, in the US there are the mommy wars between working moms and stay-at-home moms. You don't see as much of that in Norway (though stay-at-home moms are looked down upon by working moms but the former are such a minority).
I haven't looked into the effects of daycare on children's cognitive developments, but psychological research on children's developmental stages has grabbed me: how in a child's first two to three years building attached relationships is the most important, not learning in a school/pedagogical environment. That's not to say learning isn't important, nor that attached relationships can't be built in daycares. If the daycare is small and the staff qualified to develop attached relationships.
My female friends with ids in Norway seem to feel really good about having their children in daycare; it's the norm. They seem less exhausted than my stay-at-home mom friends (both in the US and Norway) and also than working moms in the US (working hours are longer here and I suspect gender equality has not reached as far, making the working double shift much truer for working moms here).
Working moms here seemed conflicted. I know some who seem fine about it (in a defensive sort of way?). But others tell me they feel they're failing to live up to the ideal of mothering, of being always available for their child, not sending the child off to daycare or even pre-school. Even a woman who works only part time and who told me she wants her son to see his mom not just as a mama but also her own person (because she grew up with a mom who was "just" at home, without pursuing anything outside or inside of the home aside from mothering and housework). Yet even she finds herself conflicted about working outside of the home some hours a week.