I don’t remember feeling neglected or unloved. Quite the opposite. I felt very safe and secure at home. I knew my parents worked because adults had to work.

All you can do is the best you can for your family. I would love to stay at home with my kids because they are more fun than most of my coworkers. Their father expressed that he feels the same way. Our financial situation doesn’t allow for only one income.

The kids seem fine with it though. They enjoy getting out of the house.

One person mentioned that a child “learns more” in later years than in the toddler times. I would disagree - much because the majority of research about child development talks about how a child’s basic sense of security, self-confidence, communication, etc all develop substantially before the age of three.

I think, though, that the point to be made for staying at home to care for children in the younger years but then putting them in school is that research indicates that a child’s greatest development takes place in their first three years of life. Many people feel that it is beneficial to be at home during those years to provide a grounding before putting their children “out into the world.”

As I said, we plan to extend staying at home to homeschooling - but I believe the above logic is what leads many parents to stay at home early on and then transition into school.

And to Lylah - right on! Why do we treat the pre-K and infant years as so different, just because they drink from bottles? Why not more homeschooling? If anything, the kids “learn” more in the later years than anything that can be “taught” when a child cannot even walk yet.

He did come off with a condescending tone towards fathers that work. It is great for him that his wife earns enough to support their family but that is not the case for everyone and to criticize them is not just in my opinion.

When our kids were younger and not in school, my wife stayed home with them. As much as I might have enjoyed to do that myself, that was not a possibility for us. If Charlie wants to label me because of that, he is more than welcome to because the only opinions that truly concern me are that of my wife and two children.

Something I always want to ask the mommy/daddy war people who blast those of us who work outside the home: How come sending your kid to day care or preschool or hiring a nanny is a horrible terrible thing, but sending them off to kindergarten isn’t? If being home with your kids is so much better for them, why aren’t more people homeschooling?

What is this HUGE fight between parents who work and those who don’t?

And why does one side always need to feel superior to the other?

I have a nanny. I work until 8 p.m. almost every evening and I need a competent, caring individual to pick my son up from school, give him dinner, a bath and shuttle him off to bed….keep him on a regular schedule.

I could easily choose not to work, but my personality would find me bored out of my skull by the third day. I need adult interaction and to feel like I am being useful and productive.

At the same time, I want my son to see an adult get up and go to work everyday and be a responsible person.

That is NOT to say that a person who makes a different choice is NOT a responsible person. They may have very different motivations for wanting to be a SAHP.

It all comes down to choice and personal preference. I do what works for MY family.

Anyone who can’t appreciate that….well….tough.