Member Questions

Both. My mom stayed home with us until my brother was in middle school or close to it. She did work from home as a piano teacher, and she stopped doing that when she started working out of the home full time. Best thing? Probably the connections she made so that I could apply for a part time job at the hospital where she was employed. That job got me through high school and helped pay for college.

My mom did both. She stayed home until my sister and I were in school and then she went to work - first substitute teaching and then full time in retail. I don't remember much about when she stayed home, but I know she really loved it. I can't really say best/worst - it really was just what she did. My mom was a great mom and I never questioned why she worked. I did learn independence and my sister and I were close since we were together alone often. The worst - maybe that my dad had to learn to cook (and us). He really did do well all things considered.

From her I know that I want to have a job where I can be flexible enough to stay home with my daughter when she is sick and to be there for the big events. I also know that I want a career where I don't have to worry about money like my parents did. There isn't anything I swore I wouldn't do.

I really had a great mom. We don't always get along perfectly but I have no real complaints. I'm glad you asked this since I sometimes worry about what my daughter will think - but when I think back I never questioned the way my family worked, it just did and we were all there for each other. We had family dinner almost every night (although sometimes my mom had to work an evening shift). Funny how my sister and I grew up in the same house and I always wanted to be a mom and keep working, and she always wanted to stay home.

Yes, my mom worked. She was a school teacher for 43 years. In fact, her mother, and her grandmother also worked. My paternal grandmother also worked, as did her mother, and her grandmother. So, I guess you'd say that I come from a LONG line of working women.

Best thing? She taught me independance and self-reliance. And that women were NEVER to be treated or looked on as 2nd class simply because they were women. She had that "attitude" and men, even those whom she taught and later became her "boss" knew NEVER to dispute nor tangle with her. She was tough, but fair and wouldn't take crap off of anyone. Most of all, she was the epitome of a lady in all of it. So, I learned that, even tho you have to be sometimes preceived as a "bitch", you can be a lady while doing it and still get things done. And make them quake in their shoes while doing it.

Worst thing? I couldn't get away with ANYTHING when I was in school, cause she taught at the same school I attended. We didn't have the luxary of picking/changing schools. You attended where you lived. And she taught there. So, there was a distinct disadvantage to being a "teacher's kid".