Just read this article on the BBC News website:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/8278742.stm
So, our children are unfit!!!! Of course I cannot dispute the evidence, but I can certainly object to the implication, specially by this Netmums woman, that women shouldn't work if they had a choice! She said (according to the BBC): "With many more mums having no choice but to work these days and with government policy actively encouraging it, it is difficult to know how mums can do better".
It makes my blood boil! Reading the evidence in the paper, the problem is not that the mums work, but that their children are more likely to drink sugary drinks, eat junk food, walk less and watch lots of TV. This makes the children unfit, not the fact that the mothers work! I fully recognise, through my own experience, that it is much harder to make sure the children get enough exercise and eat good food when you work, specially as I work full time! And I know perfectly well how to do better: not buying sugary drinks at all (if you don't buy them the children can't drink it, easy!). Trying to be organised with food and thinking ahead, cook something on Sunday that will lend itself to lots of useful and nutritious left-overs for much of the week. And omelettes and fish fingers are really quick nutritious foods for when we haven't managed to cook something in advance! And getting out of the house whenever possible so they can run around...
I can really see how tempting it is to sit the children in front of the TV sometimes, specially as you get back home from work and you need a bit of time to sort things out before dinner... it's much easier to cook without Maria and Daniel trying to help me, but it can be done and they do learn from it, as they learn from "helping" me hang the washing. Nevermind, like sweet drinks, TV is really up to the parents to choose to turn it on or not, it doesn't turn on by itself!
So, I fully recognise how much harder it is to be a good parent when you work, and I try my best and it is tough, but please, do not present this as something you should only do if you had no choice! What about the contribution we working mothers make to the economy? I have accumulated great expertise in my area of work and this makes me very useful to policy makers here and in other countries... should I really give up on all of this when my children are very well looked after and happy (and certainly not obese, Daniel is way too skinny, if anything!).
Of course I can see that it is not perfect that we do not have that much time together, and some weeks are really tough. Ideally I would work less hours, and this is something I'm looking at for when Daniel starts school... but give up work when there is so much I can contribute? It is much better for my children to have a busy but happy mother than a stay at home mum who is frustrated and later in life blames them for having missed out on a career.
Shouldn't the blame be with the Government for not providing much pre-school childcare and not enough quality after-school clubs, especially sports?
Well, now that's off my chest I can go back to my wonderful work... ok, not that wonderful, specially today, but it is worthwhile and a worthy choice!
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