Motherhood: Making Choices About Working

A good deal of research has been done on the options for working and childcare which can help you make an informed decision, but even with all the knowledge in the world, you still have to thread your way through a messy bunch of tradeoffs.
For instance, studies have found that mothers who work are healthier than mothers who do not.1 Sounds simple, right? But behind that headline, there's a more complex truth. Research findings are almost always about the averages of groups.2 Yet you are a person, not an average! If you read a statement like "mothers who work are healthier than those who do not," you might conclude, reasonably enough, that you will be healthier if you return to work. But the statement really means only that "the average mother who works is healthier than the average mother who does not." In fact, many mothers who do not work are healthier than many mothers who do. The crux is always individual: What's right for you and your family in your particular situation. Let's look at the details that have to be considered to come up with the answer.

The Benefits of Working

The many rewards of working start with the enjoyment and fulfillment you experience from the work itself. There could be the feeling that you are using an important capacity within yourself, like a technical or managerial talent. Working offers the satisfaction of accomplishing a specific ambition (e.g., to be a teacher), and some lines of work give you the sense that you are making a contribution to society beyond your family. Certain jobs or careers also have prestige or social status. Last and usually not least, there's the additional money a job brings. As Ann Crittenden has shown in her book The Price of Motherhood, our nation's laws and policies place economic burdens and risks on all mothers, but they weigh most heavily on those who stay home with their children.

There are also pluses for the children of a working mother. Some of the physical or psychological health benefits she enjoys from working will spill over onto them - like her feeling more fulfilled, or less cranky from being cooped up with a child all day. A second paycheck means more money to buy them things, like better food and health care, or enriching experiences. Childcare carries the benefit of time with other kids and caregivers, and some breathing room from mom.3 Then there are future benefits to a child if his mom works when he's little: by not stepping off the career track - especially the fastest ones - she will probably have a larger salary when he's older.

Source: FamilyEducation

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Top Ten Things Women Can Do Now to Enjoy Motherhood

1. Give yourself a break – you don’t need to be so hard on yourself.

2. Just say no! What are your real priorities?

3. Take time to write it down: journaling will bring clarity to your life.

4. Slow down and savor living in the moment.

5. Plug into your kids so you can really connect with them.

6. Don’t forget about your husband – intimacy is life-affirming!

7. Reach out beyond your family: it will enrich everyone.

8. Make your physical and mental health a priority.

9. Is more always better? Simplify everything.

10. Be a little selfish – you deserve it, and it will make you a better mother!


Source: Susan Callahan, Anne Nolen, and Katrin Schumann; McGraw-Hill (Hybrid Mom)

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Joy Of Motherhood

What is the joy of Motherhood? Where is it. Many people have been asking themselves this question especially women who have not been able to conceive and have a baby on their own. These women have missed the biggest important opportunity in their life's that of experiencing the joy in motherhood. There is no cause for worry that you have been unable to conceive and go through the whole process of pregnancy and delivery etc.

The real joy of motherhood comes only when you see the child and go through the numerous experiences of being a mother to your child as he or she grows up. It is a never ending process. The joy of being a mother is there till her death.

Women have the natural instinct of motherhood even if they are unable to have their own biological children. Motherhood is an experience.

In the early days just after the birth of the baby, the mother may go into fits of depression as the toll of having gone through a difficult and painful delivery or a caesarian section to have her baby make makes her actually feel so drained of energy.

The constant crying of the baby and the many sleepless nights she has to spend to care for the child will fail to give any joy to the mother. She may sometimes wonder if she did the right thing in her life to have had this baby.

But once the baby opens its eyes wide and gives a wonderful big smile on looking at the face of its mother then all the pain and sleepless nights that she endured will simple vanish in a second. She would have forgotten what all she went through to have this baby. A sense of satisfaction of having achieved something will give her tremendous joy and a feeling of pride.

Soon as the baby starts making noises and is more a wake and starts to play there is no better joy in motherhood. Babies just bring about a whole world of happiness with their innocence. She begins to enjoy her motherhood. This process of joy in motherhood is experienced by her through out the period of the growth of her child. The joy of motherhood does not stop with only giving birth to a bay and in the first few years of the child but it lasts till the very end of the mother's life as the mother finds joy in everything that her child does.



Source: healthy status

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Happiness Of Motherhood

It is not an easy job being a mother all the time with that motherly instinct. Mothers are also human beings who have a lot of hard work to do. When something goes wrong and the effects of drudgery and hard work of motherhood makes you worried that you feel that you do not seem to have the mothering instinct feel all the time. It is okay. There is no cause for worry. It is just that studies have found that the more stressed out you are, your rain becomes more emotional and the feeling of affection also decreases proportionately.

You may have wondered how some mothers seems to always love being a mother and they seem to enjoy their role very much.

When you spend a lot of time with someone you sometimes get the feeling that you don't seem t like that person anymore but that does not mean that you do not love them anymore. It is just that you are simply tired and certainly need a break from your routine work and the people around you.

Reports are saying that many people who are childless are having plenty of happiness. But does this mean those women who have children are really not that happy? They feel guilty that they are unable to cope with motherhood and start to doubt their abilities of being a mother and this feeling dampens their happiness and they begin to feel that they do not like to be a mother anymore.

It is the children who contribute to happiness in motherhood but the thing is these mothers are really tired and bored of their routine and are unable to take the stress which lies in being a mother full time.

Happiness lies in motherhood. And it is certainly hard to believe that childless women are happier. No amount of money you earn or the number of gadgets that you may own or all the comforts you may have in this modern world can fill that vacuum called happiness that only children can fill. It is children who make motherhood and fill their lives with sunshine and happiness.

Researchers are still trying to unravel the mystery of whether children are the real cause of happiness in Motherhood.

Motherhood gives a new meaning to a woman's life and she feels happiness in nurturing her children and swells in pride to see them grow and develop as adults.


Source: Healthy Status

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Quotations about Motherhood (Part 7)

The heart of a mother is a deep abyss at the bottom of which you will always find forgiveness.-- Honoré de Balzac

The moment a child is born, the mother is also born. She never existed before. The woman existed, but the mother, never. A mother is something absolutely new.-- Rajneesh

The mother's heart is the child's school-room.-- Henry Ward Beecher

The patience of a mother might be likened to a tube of toothpaste - it's never quite all gone. -- Author Unknown

The strength of motherhood is greater than natural laws.-- Barbara Kingsolver

The sweetest sounds to mortals givenAre heard in Mother, Home, and Heaven.-- William Goldsmith Brown

There is only one pretty child in the world, and every mother has it. -- Chinese Proverb

What took me by surprise is the way I feel when her face lights up when I walk into a room because I am her world and she is mine. Being a mother is like taking your heart out of your chest and watching it walk around.-- Author Unknown

When I was a child, my mother said to me, 'If you become a soldier, you'll be a general. If you become a monk you'll end up as the pope.' Instead I became a painter and wound up as Picasso.-- Pablo Picasso

When you are a mother, you are never really alone in your thoughts. A mother always has to think twice, once for herself and once for her child.-- Sophia Loren

Source: (Great Inspirational Quotes)

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