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What modern, turn-of-the-century parents do with their children

by Sophie  |  1292 views  |  2 comments  |        Rate this now! 

Find others who are also raising families. Our preschool serves this purpose for us. Here, we have met other families who have decided not to use daycare. We’ve also been lucky enough to meet other families with a stay-at-home dad.

Get out of the house! My husband has a tight-knit group of friends that he sees often, and he is also active in a men’s group at church. I also have joined a mom’s group at church. Getting out of the house for your own activities energizes you to keep giving to your family.

Learn to live on one income. This was a big (sometimes painful) change for us.

And, there is plenty of evidence that children are happier, do better in school, and are healthier when their father is actively involved in their care.

Don’t think that our life is all sweetness and light. On plenty of days our tempers are short, and money is even shorter. However, when we see how our daughter is thriving, we think our family business is paying off.





2 comments so far...

  • My husband and I "tag-team parented" for about 7 years -- we're both in journalism, and one of us worked days, the other worked nights, and we traded off with the kids in the middle. It took a lot of energy and while it was great that the kids had one of us around all the time, it was hard -- we never saw eachother, and "family time" with both parents was a rarity that the kids really wished happened more often. This year, my husband and I are actually both on daytime shifts, though not exactly the same schedule. We've found a childcare situation that works well for us, and I'm always home in time for bedtime (though I'm often late for dinner).

    Flag as inappropriate Posted by Lylah M. Alphonse on 2nd December 2007

  • We did what we called "split shift parenting" when the kids were young and neither one of us made good money. I worked mornings (part-time) and he worked second and third shift. It was hard on us because we didn't see much of each other, but luckily it only lasted a few years.

    Flag as inappropriate Posted by Daisy on 2nd December 2007

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