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September 08, 2005
Kids Need Moms
I just saw a commercial for ITT Technical Institute. The commercial was something of a testimonial, though it's anyone's guess about whether or not the story is real. The commercial revolves around a woman stating that she was a stay-at-home mom who wanted to give her kids everything they needed.
Let that sink in. She was a mother, at home for her children every day of the week, and she felt that her kids needed more. Now I understand that sometimes mothers need to work. My mom always has, and I still believe she's done a magnificent job raising me and my siblings. But let's not kid ourselves; there's an attitude in society that says kids need more gadgets, bells and whistles to be successful. But we don't. Not at all. We need our parents; moms and dads. We need extrended family. We need a neighborhood where we are safe and welcome. We don't have to have iPods and month-long vacations. I don't mean to sound harsh about this at all; families experience different things and I've grown up with my mom working. She has still been a wonderful mother and I love her very much. I'm just saying this idea in our society that kids need so much that both parents need to be out of the home...well, it's not healthy.
Posted by Matt at September 8, 2005 08:45 PM
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You don't sound harsh Matt. I've seen this commercial or one just like it where the mom talks about what her kids "need." It's such a misunderstanding. When we look at what is happening in the Gulf - or even at truly poor families around the world, we get a good idea of what people actually "need." It would be nice if people would just say "I want to give my kids everything they want - even if that means they don't get to spend as much time with me"
At least then they'd be honest about the fact that they are teaching their kids that material wants are more important than family. I think we decrease the importance of people and family when we focus so much on what we can ("need to") buy with our money.
Posted by: Abigail at September 9, 2005 01:14 PM
I appreciate your thoughts, Matt. I'm a stay home mom and have been for the last 4 years. I have three lovely boys and want to give them the everything they truly need. I wanted to give them a mom who didn't yell because she was stressed out from her teaching day, I wanted to give them a decent meal, rather than whatever I scraped up on the way home, I wanted to give them the consistency of being home when they got off of the bus..all of the things I had not been able to give them before. And do you know what the really amazing thing is, God is gracious enough to bless us because we answered the call to have me home. It is a calling in a very quiet way.
Posted by: Paula at September 9, 2005 06:45 PM