stay at home moms

Here's a post from our partners at BabyCenter! Every week, we bring you the best parenting and lifestyle stories from the experts at BabyCenter, including this post about the work at home and stay at home debate.

With Sheryl Sandberg’s new book Lean In garnering enormous attention in the media, it’s not surprise that we’re somehow back to the whole working mom vs. stay-at-home-mom argument. But this time it’s not the moms going at it, apparently it’s the dads who have an opinion on the matter.

Yes, according to a study [of the very obvious] conducted by the Pew Research Center, dads want their wives to be stay-at-home-moms. Apparently 37 percent of the dads surveyed think moms should stay home. And 41 percent think that part-time work is a good compromise.

Related: Child-Free Blogger Weighs in on Our Parenting Fails

Granted, this was a study of about 2500 people, so I’m hardpressed to say this is a significant number or holds any sort of validity, but really, are we that surprised? I mean how nice would it be to go to work and have someone at home love and care for your kids, as well as keep up with the house and all the associated duties?

Sign me up!

What’s interesting is that more women (37 percent compared to 21 percent when this study was last conducted) want to work full-time and about 50 percent want to work part-time. So as satisfied as the men are with having the home, the women are unsatisfied.

The question I ask myself, and have asked for many years, is whether that’s really the best for everyone? Whether men want the woman to stay home seems fairly inconsequential to me. I would like to know what’s best for the relationship, for each individual, and for the kids.

My best guess is that it’s where each party feels satisfied and happy with their choice, whatever it may be. And that they feel supported and confident that they made the right one. Until someone figures all that out for every parent out there I’m going to continue doing what I do when I see these studies: roll my eyes.

What do you think about these study results?

More great reads from BabyCenter:
Do you have a second mom in your house?
7 yummy ways to use leftover ham
Creative pre-school crafts from Pinterest
11 kids rugs that are great for play
10 gender-neutral baby shower gifts

Let the debate rage on! Over in A Place to Vent, an anonymous reader submitted her thoughts on the ongoing debate over working moms. Here is an excerpt from her post.

The most fulfilled I have ever felt is when I became a mother, something so many women today take for granted. Yes, I can already hear the outraged cries from Gloria Steinem and NOW. Helen Reddy is pondering, "Did she not listen to the lyrics of 'I am woman'?" But I stand by my claim. Raising a child is the most important gift we have been bestowed. Yet in 2011 I am constantly amazed at how many of us choose to pass this awesome opportunity off to people who are barely adults themselves, or at the very least can't wait the 4-5 years to do this until the child is of school age. Our excuse, as if there is one, is that it's our duty to define ourselves outside of the parameters of the traditional mother and wife.

Let me preface this by stating that I am all too aware that it is indeed a fact that some of us must work to put a roof over our heads. I know from where I speak, I am a divorced mom who was abandoned by her husband and am without any support from my son's father. I have gone from living a cosmopolitan life abroad to residing in a more humble suburban setting. Despite the fact that the most exotic thing I do these days, is travel down the ethnic food aisle at Whole Foods, I am confident that the sacrifices I am making today in order to be a daily part of my son's life, possesses far more value than anything I can purchase off of Net-a-Porter. 

If we are perfectly frank here, the majority of those women adorned in their Tory Burch tennis outfits and Gucci sandals, dropping their precious cargo off at daycare, look a far cry from being one step away from standing in the breadlines. I highly doubt that their haste is the result of a desire to head straight to their jobs at Walmart. With a simple blow of a kiss and a small wave of the hand they are dismissing the one true thing in their lives as though they were just another accessory in their status wardrobe.

Keep reading to see the rest of the reader's thoughts on working moms. Overwhelmed by a crying baby, fighting tots, overbearing in-laws, and competitive parents? Start venting in our anonymous group, A Place to Vent and share your stress with fellow moms who understand your plight.

Lots of moms think out loud, and GwennW does too. Am I the Newest Desperate Housewife? comes from the Cooking in Pajamas blog at OnSugar.

My dentist has three chickens and I am so jealous. When I was in his chair last month, I couldn't wait to ask him how many fresh eggs he got that weekend. Three and a half dozen! If I had called him the night before, he would have brought me a dozen of his fresh eggs! I began to quiz him. "Where do they live? How many did you start with? Was it expensive to build a coop? Are they noisy? Do I need to fence in my yard? Will my yard smell like a barn? Can two city folk like me and Phil really raise a small group of chicken, just so we can have fresh eggs." He assured me that it was incredibly simple, and I could just come check out his chickens. I started to imagine myself in overalls and a straw hat, going out to my chicken coop every morning to get fresh eggs. Wouldn't my dogs love to run around the yard with chickens? This is going to be SO FUN!

Then the New York Times Sunday Magazine comes out with an article entitled, "The Femivore's Dilemma". It seems as though "chicks-with-chicks" is the newest way for stay-at-home moms to find some sort legitimacy to their domestic lives.  It is the same argument we have heard a million times before....today's soccer mom feels undervalued.   If you have chosen to stay home with your kids, you may be 'prone to depression', some women lose a sense of financial independence and feel guilty for not 'contributing financially' to the household income anymore, or a general sense of 'purposelessness' takes over.

What is a highly educated, well-read, stay at home mom to do to boost her self worth? Apparently, jump on the latest bandwagon and start building your backyard mini-barn. To read the rest of this post, click here.

Want to see more? Start following OnSugar blog Cooking in Pajamas or start your own OnSugar blog. We may just feature your content on LilSugar.

Pack your bags working moms, we're going on a guilt trip. As if there's not enough blame to push on the working mother, a new report came out giving those of us in the work force another reason to feel self-conscience for bringing home some bacon. A British study found that children of working mums spent more time watching television and had poorer eating habits than their peers with stay-at-home moms. While that may be the case, there are ways to skirt that issue. For instance, when I found out my nanny was taking my daughter to the bakery every day for a cookie, I thanked her for the kind gesture and then kindly asked her to refrain from the tasty pastry stop unless it was for a special occasion. Where there's a will, there's a way, which means parents may have to put forth the extra effort to set up guidelines for the caretaker but it is by no means a given that a working mommy's child should be less fit and healthy than its counterparts.

Do you have certain restrictions outlined for your nanny?

I'm about to pop which means my maternity leave is likely just days away. While I've always been a working mother, I can't wait to gain stay-at-home mom status for a few months. I've done it twice before when my daughter and son were born and loved every minute — even those that were covered in spit-up. While spending so much quality time with my kids is the obvious perk, there are others that are often overlooked. Here's my list!

• I get to drop off and pick up my kids from school and get more involved in their daily activities.
• Impromptu trips to the park don't revolve around my work deadlines.
• An 8 a.m. trip to the grocery store is less stressful than weekend ones.
• Forget scheduling meetings or appointments, life is all about playdates!
• Sweats and sneakers is a totally acceptable outfit.
• My kids will get my undivided attention (well, it will be divided between the three of them!)

What is or was your favorite thing about being a stay-at-home mom? Join our The Mommy Club over in our LilSugar community and share your stories! Here's a detailed guide to posting questions or posts to groups if you are new to the PopSugar Community.