Always Learning: Sharon Osbourne's Regrets

Sunday, November 18, 2012

Sharon Osbourne's Regrets

Sharon Osbourne was on Katie (update: a show that used to be on but has been canceled) recently and Katie asked Sharon if working mothers could have it all? Sharon's answer was so profound I had to rewind it and take it down word for word so I could share her words with all of you.

She looked at Katie and replied, "No, Katie, I don't. Honestly I wish I could say that you can but you can't. You can't have everything and do everything great because something suffers. For me, it was my family. My children suffered because I worked and traveled so I wasn't there for them the amount of time they needed.

When I see mums who say, 'Oh, I'm just a mum,' it's not just a mum. I think women should realize how blessed they are to be there at home with their child every single step of the way. If I could do it again, turn back time, I would give up the money. I would give up everything. I would live in an apartment. I'd live in a tent as long as we were together."

If you are a mother at home, thank the Lord that He has blessed you with children and you are able to be the one raising them. There is NO more important job than raising those children the Lord has blessed you with. You are raising the next generation.

I am so thankful I was able to be home and raise my four children. Before I had children, I always said I would live in a trailer if I needed to so I could be home full time with them. Raising children takes a lot of time. Teaching them about Jesus, how to treat others, how to control their emotions, etc. takes a full time mommy.

All four of my children walk with Jesus and there is nothing greater in life than when your children walk in Truth. They have all been an incredible blessing in our life and I thank God for them all the time.

So don't live with regrets like Sharon Osbourne. Do whatever you can to be able to be at home full time and raise those precious children God blessed you with.

I have no greater joy than to hear that my children walk in truth.

3 John 4

Comments (33)

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Cynthia Swenson · 645 weeks ago

I was just thinking of this verse a few hours ago in church when Pastor asked us what our greatest heart's desire was. This is an inspiring post Lori! Love & prayers, in Jesus, Cynthia

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FABBY · 645 weeks ago

Oh, my daughter works but makes so much time to take care of her little girls, she's such a wonderful mother and is always teaching them about right and wrong, good and bad and God and when there's no God too. She works with her hubby so she's got half day off. I stayed at home too and worked half time, when they were in school, so I was blessed too. But nothing is perfect, I also have regrets about how I raised my kids, about what I did and didn't do..the only thing I could say to myself is: I did the best I could, even though children do not come with instructions...they came out pretty good anyway, lol.. thank the Lord. Hope you come by my post, there is all my family and my two girls, and all Sofia did for my grand's bithday party. God bless our families.
FABBY

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creatingfamilyconnections 47p · 645 weeks ago

I am grateful my mom stayed home with my siblings and I so that we could be homeschooled. I would love to do the same if I have kids one day!

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Susan · 645 weeks ago

Wow! That is so true. I worked until my daughter was in kindergarten. At that time I just told my husband "I can't do this anymore". We put her in private school and I was there nearly all day everyday. After 1st grade we decided to homeschool and I can't tell you what God has restored to us both! When she was in daycare/preschool I was very blessed to have excellent people taking care and teaching her at my church but they weren't me although they all still hold a special place in all of our hearts and we keep in touch with several of them 6 years later.

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todaywithellierae 0p · 645 weeks ago

Wow, that's quite a statement. I'm glad I was able to stay home, too.

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Pam · 645 weeks ago

While I appreciate what you have written, some women really don't have a choice about working or not. Sure, you can downsize, but there are situations where the woman has to work. And a woman shouldn't be made to feel like less of a mother for working, if she has to or not. That's not being fair to the other women. I greatly respect women who are stay at home moms, just as I respect women who are moms who work outside of the home. Implying that women who work outside of the home aren't "full time mommies" is pretty hurtful to women who work or who were raised by women who worked outside the home. EVERY MOM is a full-time mom! Also, I will say that Sharon Osborn's experience of working outside the home while raising children is probably vastly different than many other women's experience.

1 reply · active 644 weeks ago

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Helene · 644 weeks ago

I don't know that God insists that all mothers must or should stay at home with their children. But I think the point that there are limitations to what we can do and our choices matter is very important. Telling women that their careers and their families won't conflict is a lie and worse still is telling them they'll be "better" or "happier" if they do both at the same time. It's impossible to do that without giving something up (one way or the other!)

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Lori · 644 weeks ago

There's nothing that compares with the peace we have when we know we've obeyed God and done everything we can to raise our children in the nurture and admonition of the LOrd. We made the choice for me to be home with our girls, and lived without many of the material possessions our friends had. Even our children gave us a hard time about living in the smallest house and driving the oldest cars. I'd always say to them in response, "I love you more than I love a big house or a nice car." Now that they're grown, I have no regrets. Visiting from Be NOt Weary today and glad I did :)

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lgoogoogaga 29p · 644 weeks ago

I love this!!

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Christine · 644 weeks ago

I have never watched these. I researched them and read something about homosexuality, so I didn't want to. Your post makes it sound interesting so it would be awesome if you told us which episode had that bad scene on it, so we could avoid it. Thank you.

1 reply · active 644 weeks ago

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Brit · 644 weeks ago

Love this quote from Sharon!! I usually watch Katie as the kids are napping and I'm prepping for dinner, but I missed this one. Thanks for sharing!

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eviejowilson 2p · 644 weeks ago

Great post and it is a blessing if you are able to be a stay at home mom!

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Audrey · 644 weeks ago

Just found your blog. I really enjoyed this topic and your other recent ones. Thank you for not being afraid to share your opinions on very controversial topics. So many today, including myself, seem to stay away from such hot topics so as not to offend. But without honest discussion how can we see through others' eyes and examine our own beliefs. Thanks you for being bold and not shying away. Takes a tough skin and a receptive heart.

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Joluise · 644 weeks ago

What might work for one family may not work for another - my mother worked during my younger years and she did a wonderful job and we never wanted for anything. Other children may not be so fortunate. Some stay at home mums seem to be on some sort of mission to put down and paint a picture of working women that is both unfair and often incorrect - I have 2 beautiful, well rounded lovely sons who are now hard working young adults, all done by a working mother.

At the moment my husband is unemployed, I praise the Lord that I am in a very well paid job that can support my family and reduce the stresses on my husband. It also means we don't need to rely on any government handouts. Women often forget that the Lord can also provide employment for women if He sees fit, His will not mine.

And personally I wouldn't take the advice of Sharon Osbourne, the wife of the heavy metal Black Sabbath lead singer who has lead a very wild drug/alcohol induced life. Yes, I am sure she has regrets - her life is anything but Christian - just watch a few moments of their reality TV show and its pretty questionable, in fact so bad I wouldn't let my children watch it.

3 replies · active 644 weeks ago

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Vicky · 644 weeks ago

i was a blessed woman who stayed home and raised her 3 kids for 17 years. It was the best decision we ever made and I wouldn't give any of those moments for anything in the world. I am eternally grateful that God provided a way for me to do it. I pray that other mothers might have the same blessing.
Thanks for this post. It reiterates a very important principal.

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Patricia · 644 weeks ago

She says it but I do not agree. Being a mom is besides that. She'd be a ridicously frustrated mother in a tent. Each woman has its way. It seems blunt, but she is being hypocrital. Putting guilt in a working mother comes. from a chauvinist society. How about more collaboration from a dad too when he gets home? Wake up, Sharon. A full time mom who is not made for it can be a frustrated mom too. It all depends.

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Jillie · 644 weeks ago

I am blessed to say that I was able to stay home and raise my two children. I wouldn't have had it any other way. We went without many of the creature comforts offered to us by the world. We still need a new roof and siding even now that our kids are grown and gone!
In my experience, I do realize that some women need to be out there working. But for the most part, the women I know who 'say' they 'have' to work, really just want to 'keep up with the Joneses'. New home. new vehicle(s), labels on their clothing, French manicures.....A lot of it is just about the money, pure and simple. They just don't want to look deep within their own hearts to find the real motivation for what they do. Sometimes I've even seen women who have children just because it's what we're 'supposed' to do. They don't like having their crying little ones hanging on their side after working all day, and they just want to 'get 'em into bed " when they get home at night. It is so sad. Their kids are growing up wearing all the most expensive labels on the outside, and emotionally starving on the inside. I attribute a great deal of our problems with our youth today on the fact that there's no Mom at home building virtues into their children.
Thanks for letting me get this off my chest today.

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daffodil568 26p · 644 weeks ago

It's good to hear this message from a woman who is so successful.

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Sharon · 644 weeks ago

You've obviously hit a point that people want to talk about! My four children are more or less out of the nest now (one's back till his wedding in 2 months and one's away at college so comes home for vacations) but I have never regretted being at home for them every single day. I didn't give them all the material things, but I gave them me. Twenty-seven years of kids in the house and I'd do it all again in a flash. In fact, I'd love the opportunity--as long as it came with the energy I started with!

I'm visiting through Titus 2sdays.

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papemelroti 11p · 644 weeks ago

Good for her! I'm sure a lot of moms would think twice because of what she said. Patsy from
<a href="http://patsypat.blogspot.com"

rel="nofollow">HeARTworks

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TanSki · 644 weeks ago

I was once challenged by a speaker who said that there are no verses in the Bible that say,"teachers do..." or, "Teachers train" or, "teachers teach" concerning training up children. So where does the job go to? In my view it would be left TO THE PARENTS. I do not believe that sending children off for someone else to train/teach for the best 7 hours of energy in the day is what God intended. The person/people that God gave children to MOST INFLUENCE their lives and who a child/children most look to are their parents, whether they admit it or not - blood is blood - and it is a parents job to diligently use every hour of the day to teach and train.

"Train up children in the way they should go and when they are old they will not turn from it." Proverbs 22:6.

I think we woman are thinking up a lot of excuses to get away from these basic principles the Lord teaches in His word. I think it is damaging our families. If you look at history and what started to happen after the Great Depression and woman going off to work you will see the decline of families. Divorce hit the roof. I realize some woman head off to work during tough times, I have done much reading on how that damages a real husband/providers feeling of self worth. This has greatly contributed to the downfall of strong husbands/fathers. They are not the leaders they used to be when they were the true breadwinners... hunters actually who literally had to go out and kill the animal to feed his family. When woman hit the work force and left their families for reasons other than death of a spouse or something otherwise tragic (which is a different blog completely!) the family dynamics changed in that the spouses didn't need each other any more. So often the bank accounts are even kept
separate. Husbands and wives split all the work and home chores too. They begin to live separate lives in the same home. Kids are more and more turned on the wayside. How sad!
We begin to step further and further from serving our families and thus our children begin to stray and look more and more to the world because they are living just like it.

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EmmaK · 644 weeks ago

Great to hear Sharon speaking out about this. I really don't think you can have it all and it is a shame some women say 'i'm just a mum' because it is a very important job. I am your latest follower from the Welcome Wednesday blog hop so do come by and say hi! www.mommyhasaheadache.blogspot.com

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Ken · 644 weeks ago

For the men out there reading the blog and comments... I will add that God's ideal IS that Mom is home full time raising her babies. If that is not possible because of finances or husband's employment situation, so be it... Our God of grace has enough providence and kindness to overcome many of the times we go against God's ideals, but there are often undesired consequences.

As one above pointed out so clearly, to hand the best hours of your child's early training life of to a caretaker makes "training a child in the way they should go" ten times more difficult. , Can it be done... you bet ... with lots of parental focus, time and energy, which many working Mom's no longer have when they get home.

So men... make good choices with your family and realize as Sharon now does that living in a trailer so Mom can be home with the kids is far better than any 401K or long term retirement plans, vacations, etc. Can you have it all in life... NO! Make good choices and realize that your greatest treasure of all is really raising great kids you will enjoy forever on this earth and eternity. All the rest of life comes second best, and it needs stay in that priority.

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Gina · 642 weeks ago

I love her honesty! Wow!! Amen!

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Cynthia Swenson · 539 weeks ago

Lori, I am so blessed to find your old post on Ann's link...she reposted today from 2012. Your link about Sharon was the FIRST ONE I clicked on because I was thinking about & praying for her THIS MORNING! I actually met Ozzy when I was 14. Black Sabbath had come to Austin,Texas where I grew up. I only talked with him for a couple of minutes & he pulled family photos out of his wallet to show me. I thought he was a nice guy. Over the years, I realized how evil his music was, but I would pray for him when I thought about him. This morning I was remembering a news article I read a few years ago, where Sharon had left for a time because of his alcoholism. What I remember about that article, was that he acknowledged his drinking problem & he didn't blame her for anything. I don't watch t.v. so I appreciate this link. I will continue to pray for them. Sometimes, I feel rather "useless" to God's work because of my isolation with special needs children. However, it's times like these when I realize how simple prayers are something God values very much! (also online fellowship!). Hope you are having a wonderful Thanksgiving this 2014! Love & prayers, in Jesus, Cynthia

1 reply · active 539 weeks ago

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"Mark them which cause divisions and offenses contrary to the doctrine which you have learned and avoid them." {Romans 16:17} All comments WILL be moderated before being published. Thank you for your patience.

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