the history of working mothers

[formergothardite]

Let's say that Ave Maria has a perfect understanding of what it is to be a farmer based on playing with farmer's children when she was a child. That is still ignoring that in the past this idea of a stay at home mom watching the children as we know it today didn't exist except for maybe the rich and then they often employed people to watch the children. The farm women were at home working hard just like the farm men were at home working hard. The kids were either working hard themselves, being watch over by another child or being watched by both parents in a way that would not be deemed suitable today. It is no longer socially acceptable to use huge amounts of child labor, to let preschoolers watch toddler or to leave small children by themselves to go work, so if Ave Maria was born in the last 30-40 years she probably did see moms staying at home. But that doesn't mean that traditionally women didn't work at home like the men did.

I live in a farm community now and a good chunk of the farmers send their kids to the local church daycares because both of them are needed to work on the farm. Usually one or both of them also have another job to help keep the farm going, but when working on the farm they can't watch the children. So I actually do know farm wives and farm husbands sending their kids to daycare in droves. If I'm not mistaken I think one of the church daycares was started back in the 60's mostly for the children of farmers in the congregation.

[2xx1xy1JD]

I was re-reading The First Four Years by Laura Ingalls Wilder over the weekend. This is the last book in the series - the one that her daughter didn't edit, so it's the one with the rawest version of reality.

There's a part where she mentions that she helped Almanzo in the fields, and they left their very protective St. Bernard to watch over baby Rose while she slept. That's right - the dog was the babysitter. Ah, the good ole days!

[FJismyheadship]

I was looking at a family census record, and a 70 year old grandmother was working at a London workhouse. Most of the people there ranged in ages from 50 to 80, but there were a few kids too. Anyway, I looked it up, and if you were at this place, you were confined to that place, and had to work unless you were physically incapable of working, or above a certain age. There were a lot of people too. This was in the late 1800's I think. Anyway, I think about my grandmother and my aunt who can't work due to age tearing their bodies down. They are right around the same age this woman was. I can't imagine them having to go work in at their current ages and conditions. They did work for a long time. My grandmother recently had to stop because she was getting too weak. My aunt had to stop because she broke her hip, and hasn't been the same since.

But don't tell the fundies, they might think you were lying.

[OkToBeTakei]

I never said I knew how to do their jobs, only what their jobs entail and what their lives are like. If you'd hung around doctors and lawyers and their families, I'd bet that you know a lot more about their lives, etc, than someone else who has never been in the home of a doctor, a lawyer, or a construction project manager.

As far as commenting on the jobs teachers do, if you've ever been a student or the parent of on I'd be willing to let you comment. ;)

I'm concerned to think this might be a serious answer.

I'll bite though. My sister is a teacher. Do I know about her life how she brings up her kids, sure. She is my sister.

My brother is a lawyer. Same question same answer.

Does this inform in ANY way the lives of the millions of other lawyers, doctors and their lives out there? No.

You need to think out with your own experience or certainly at the very least not use your own limited experiences to blanket comment on huge parts of society, I'm thinking.