Tuesday, June 7, 2016

Summertime ~ Yet Another Reason for Mothers to Be Home Full-Time


What do mothers do with their children all summer long when they have to work full-time? There's no longer school to take care of the children so who takes care of them? According to this article only a quarter of children have a parent home with them full-time. There's no parent home to take many of them to the park on a whim or to the closest place to swim. There's no one home to fix them a nourishing lunch or play games with them. 

Since many parents can't afford summer programs and camps, they are forced to find someone else to raise their children or leave them home alone, even with twelve year old siblings. This article bemoans the fact that lower income children get academically behind  higher income children because higher income children have schooling options during the summer. I sure never went to school during the summer. I was so excited just to play, swim, and do anything but school! Most children did this when I was growing up and it sure didn't hurt us academically. Since when did our nation place education on such a high pedestal that children aren't supposed to have a summer vacation? Always remember that the wisdom of this world is foolishness to God.

Most of these mothers who work find that in order to pay babysitters, camps, etc. for their children, they bring home very little money. One couple is spending 23% of their weekly income for the childcare for the summer! What is the solution to this problem in this article? Bigger government programs to support women not being at home so someone else can take care of their children.

Children don't need more schooling. They don't need a summer program. They don't need one more daycare, babysitter, or nanny. They don't need another government program to pay for their care and more debt for their generation in the future. They need their mothers! They want their mother home full-time. They are tired of being shuffled here and there. Children thrive on stability, security, and being with their own mother all the time. Another government program to give mothers more of a reason to work will simply cause more mothers to leave their children. 

Don't they understand that someone has to pay for these government programs? We all do; anyone who works, that is. There is no free lunch. The taxes go higher so it makes it more difficult to live on one income. Greed is at the root of it all. People want to do what they want. Too many women don't want to stay home all day with their children. They would rather be out making their own money and being with other adults. {These are the women I am speaking about.} Therefore, they are expecting the government to help satisfy their greed and dissatisfaction. Government is more than willing to help tear families apart since the bigger a government gets, the less it cares about families.

Stop the crazy cycle! Live modestly within your husband's income. Come home and take care of your children. Take them to the lake, pool, or ocean. Allow them to spend the carefree days of summer having fun and enjoying the sunshine and warmth. Allow them to enjoy YOU for this is what they want the very most, their mother. If you are a single mother, find some way to make money from home. Ask the Lord for wisdom in this area for what He commands He provides. 

"A simple lifestyle allows time for visiting with friends and spending time with our extended family. It means more time for cultivating good habits in our children, helping a needy friend, encouraging a sister, and sharing with our husbands. It means more time to follow righteousness, godliness, faith, love, patience, and meekness." {Ruth Mast}

Better is a little with the fear of the LORD than 
great treasure and trouble therewith. 
Proverbs. 15:16

Comments (23)

Loading... Logging you in...
  • Logged in as
Lady Virtue's avatar

Lady Virtue · 459 weeks ago

Just yesterday, I overheard a married lady with three young children (I think the youngest is about 2) fretting about what she was going to do with them over the summer. It sounded as if something had gone awry with her original plans. Immediately, I remember thinking, if only this woman were a keeper at home! That would have resolved the issue.

It always makes me so sad to see women leave their children for hours each day to work, where often their bosses and some company that cares nothing about them get their best. Then they come home in the evening, tired, and their husbands and children get short shrift. God's ways aren't always easy, and they require sacrifice, but they still are the best!
1 reply · active 459 weeks ago
It's sad to me too, Lady Virtue. Everyone misses out on the best for their lives.
Great post, Lori!! I knew of a family where the kids stayed home alone all summer, and yet they weren't able to play outside (since there wasn't a parent at home) because that would be a safety risk. So these children spent the entire summer indoors, and then by the time the parents got home around 6, it was time for dinner and bed so that the parents could have some downtime before they had to rush out the door early morning. Oh, I'm sure they tried to make up for that lost time by cramming in some fun activities on the weekends...because the great justification there is that it is "quality, not quantity". Actually, raising children is about quantity AND quality. If you are a true keeper of the home, one should not have to rule over the other...you really can have both. I'm sure that this sad, summer scenario is very common for many families :-( Kids only get one childhood...and they should certainly spend their summers enjoying a little downtime too.
1 reply · active 459 weeks ago
Many times the older siblings become babysitters to the younger siblings and miss out on childhood by having this responsibility. Yes, children need a lot of time with their mother, yet many mothers today don't seem to care. I do see some coming home and they are so thrilled about it! I'm happy for them as well.
Anonymous 2's avatar

Anonymous 2 · 459 weeks ago

It amazes me how mothers allow other people to teach their children and babysit. Than we wonder why did they grow up to think that way. Guess where it started? Even the Christian Families sending their children to public school to be a light to the dark world. Never did get this concept, because that Christian child is still being taught humanistic teaching as well. All it does is confuse that Christian child.

Life is too short not to raise your children.
2 replies · active 459 weeks ago
"Life is too short not to raise your children." I love it. That is one of the best ways it can ever be resumed.
Yes, once your children are all grown up and having children of their own, it hits you even harder how short life on this planet is and should be used to live our lives according to the way the Lord wants us to live them.
Melissa M.'s avatar

Melissa M. · 459 weeks ago

Honestly, school breaks are part of the reason why I continue to not work outside my home although my son is 16.
1 reply · active 459 weeks ago
Even at 16, they need their mothers there to watch over them, talk to them, and care for them.
CAhousewife's avatar

CAhousewife · 459 weeks ago

I know a couple who once spent over $8 000 for summer camp for their daughter, I thought what a waste if it's more than what the mother brings home, and be taken care of by others...
1 reply · active 459 weeks ago
Many mothers don't want to raise their children anymore. This is how the whole feminist movement begin. Why have children is you don't want to raise them?
Amazing how the simple solution is right in front of their face yet they don't see it! Stay home with your children and consider the money you save on childcare to be your paycheck!

It is incredible to me how even in the church these things are considered so revolutionary and unusual! I had one of those moments this weekend realizing how infiltrated the church is with worldly values and feminism, and I was just speechless for a moment when I heard it.

A friend's husband is returning to full time ministry as a pastor after years of working a regular job, and the wife is refusing to attend his new church with him! She doesn't want to leave their current church family, plus she serves as an elder and has lots of responsibilities at their current church. She told him if he wanted to interview for the job that was fine, but to make it clear to the church that they would not be getting a pastor's wife out of the bargain. (He won't be moving, the new church is in the same town where they live.)

As I said, I was pretty much speechless.
1 reply · active 459 weeks ago
Many pastor's wives work full-time out of the home, Mrs. M. If pastor's wives aren't being examples of submission and being a keeper at home, there aren't probably going to be any examples to the younger women in the church, Mrs. M. This is the way it was in my church growing up. Older women need to step up and obey the Lord.
the only help my mom was able to give me as a single mom was in the summertime my daughter went to her house in the morning before I went to work and then i picked her up straight away after work. my daughter was blessed to have that time playing with her grandmother and my daughter learned a lot about sewing, fashion, cooking, etc. things she wouldn't have learned in camp. she did go to camp for a few hours here and there for dance, but that was it.
i do think about what i could have done differently to have a job with summers off, but i wouldn't trade the special bond my daughter has with her gram for anything! (ok.. yes i'd also like summers off!)
I have been looking for jobs in the school district nearby so that i could have the summers off now, but with my "skill" and experience level at my job now, it makes it pretty difficult to explain i why i'd be "stepping backwards". although i dont think it would be stepping backwards, i think i would LOVE it. please pray i will find something soon!
3 replies · active 457 weeks ago
It would be best if you could find something to do out of the home so you could be the one home with your daughter. She could still spend plenty of time with her Grandmother. Pray about it and ask the Lord for wisdom. He will give it to you since He promises He will give wisdom to whoever asks.
i wish! i don't have the gifts involved to start up a home business of any kind. i have tried and it did not work. i am not a leader or self-motivator in that aspect. i need to have a job where i show up, get a list of things to do and get those done. i also still need the same income or close to it, because of the financial problems i am having right now. i am about a year-2 years away to getting everything paid off! i could have stuck my head in the sand about my credit, but i am trying to do the right thing and pay it all off to clear my name essentially. i also need health insurance benefits. it is against the law in my state to not have them
ACM, it sounds like you are doing a great job of providing for your daughter! And what a blessing for both her and your mother that the two of them can enjoy spending time together. Please do not feel guilty about the choices you need to make in order to provide health care for your family and pay off your credit debt. All the best to you!
Thank you for this reminde that it is a blessing to not have to worry about where my kids will go during the summer, since I am a homemaker. My niece who is 16 has had to babysit her younger brother all summer for the last couple of years. It makes me think that she may resent this later in life. This has made pause today and appreciate that I can take my kids to do fun simple things. My friend wanted to work part time since all of her kids were school age. She did not get the job she applied for and was sad. I reminded her that summer would have been expensive and stressful to find even part time summer care.
1 reply · active 459 weeks ago
You are blessed, Raquel, and so are your children!
I do agree with you on this subject, so many children get exposed to harmful things when Mothers are not home with them. I also have seen much of a woman's paycheck go for fast food for dinners. Summer is the time for children to grow in the sunshine and read all they want!
Summer is filled with the best part of childhood!
Great Post!
Always, Roxy
Amen, amen, AMEN.

"Government is more than willing to help tear families apart since the bigger a government gets, the less it cares about families."

Also, broken families support big government, because broken families tend to depend on government help. So it's a positive feedback loop - big government produces broken families, and broken families feed big government.

Excellent post, Lori.
I love summer vacation! I work full time as a public school teacher, in submission to my husband who has decided that I should work. I am thankful that I have a job that allows me to be with my daughters on weekends and breaks and I love the long weeks of investing in their lives and building memories. I'm always a little heartbroken when summer ends. I delight in my children!
Not all mothers have the luxury of staying home with their kids. Some of us have to work because our husbands simply do not make enough to provide for the family on their own. I personally would love to stay home with my children but financially can not.

Post a new comment

Comments by