Working moms....

My lil' angel

Sometimes i wonder on why do we need to work?Kalau tak keje tak boleh ke?Emm..being a woman, of course it is not COMPULSORY for me to work. It is a custome that husbands MUST have a job, at least.

How about the wives??? Well, during my mom/grandmom/great grandmom...'s time, most of the women in Msia just stayed at home being a full time housewife and took care of the children. But things changed...

After completing my first degree, the first thing that came to my mind is to find a good job.of course. The idea of being a full time housewife has never came accross my mind. But now, after having 4 wonderful children and being working for about 11 years(oh dear!Have i worked that long???), I'm looking forward for a more 'relaxed' job where I can spend more time on my kids rather than bringing back loads of work to be done at home...sigh...

According to Wikipedia, "The expression "work-life balance" was first used in the late 1970s by organisations such as New Ways to Work and the Working Mother's Association in the United Kingdom (the phrase was first used in the United States in 1986). "Work-life balance" was coined to address the unhealthy life choices that many people were making; they were choosing to neglect other important area of their lives such as family, friends, and hobbies in favor of work-related chores and goals.

Unfortunately, many women feel additional stress when they must decide what they feel is best for their families or what is best for their career. Lawyer Lisa Kay Bennett is presently searching for a job. Ms. Bennett has fourteen years of litigation experience and has been a Federal judge clerk. However, after sending fifty resumes to various firms and companies, she has received only two responses for low-paying positions. The problem is the fact that this highly qualified lawyer took seven years off to raise her children. According to Sylvia Hewlett, president of the Center for Work-Life Policy, if a woman takes time off to care for children or an older parent, employers tend to “see these people as less than full committed. It’s as though their identity is transformed.” [15] Brett Graff, Nightly Business Report correspondent states that (because a female may have trouble re-entering the market or, if she does find a position, it will likely be a lower position with less pay) “If you thought choosing a baby name was hard, you have yet to wrestle with the idea of leaving your career to be a full-time mom or take care of an older parent…Most will want to reenter, but will do so accepting lesser positions or lower wages.” [16] This circumstance only increases the work-life balance stress experienced by many women employees.
Similar discrimination is experienced by men who take time off or reduce working hours for taking care of the family.
An increasing number of young children are being raised by a childcare provider or another person other than a parent, and older children are more likely today to come home to an empty house and spend time with video games, television and the internet with less guidance to offset or control the messages coming from these sources. No one knows how many kids are home after school without an adult, but they know the number is in the millions. Also, according to a study by the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, the “more time that children spent in child care, the more likely their sixth grade teachers were to report problem behavior.” [17] The findings are the results of the largest study of child care and development conducted in the United States; the analysis tracked 1,364 children from birth."

There were times when I just feel like quitting my job and to stay at home being with the children and watch them grow each day. Time flies so fast that my eldest one is already 10 this year. She's no longer my baby daughter (although she acted as one sometimes..giggle) and in a couple of years time she will start her secondary school etc. Hmmm...I'm still trying to find ways that I can still watch them grow and at the same time I still get my paycheck every month :).