LDS and stay at home moms?

[_Scottveg3]

I think what is being debated here, Gaz, is not whether or not being a stay at home Mom is worthwhile thing. I don't think anyone here is arguing that it isn't. What is being debated is whether or not we should be judging each other for our choices. In the Church, you have stay at home Moms judging women who work. In the corporate world, you have women who work judging stay at home Moms. I've seen it happen both ways.
I just don't understand why there has to be so much judgmentalism, especially within the Church. That, to me, seems like it should be the one place where it doesn't exist. That's what I get so infuriated about.

Why can't both choices be respected?

Emphasis above is why I started this thread.

I have a degree in political science with an emphasis in pre-law. Ten years ago I was headed for law school. Children put the brakes on it. I'm now working in education. Why? So I can have the same hours and schedule as my children. I've just recently returned to the work force. I went from young college student to stay at home mother for almost 10 years. I feel I've made sacrifices. I sat at home and read and changed diapers and stimulated little minds for the last 10 years. I grieved for my own desires and dreams that will not be realized ever. For someone to judge me or what I've done is ridiculous. For someone to assume they know my life or what kind of mother I am by my work status is ridiculous.

I ENVY women that went ahead and pursued their dreams. There is a part of me that regrets not going forward and fulfilling what I yearned for all my life. I don't believe that makes them less of a mother.

that's really well put Barrel.

[_Yoda]

I ENVY women that went ahead and pursued their dreams. There is a part of me that regrets not going forward and fulfilling what I yearned for all my life.

I respect you for staying home with your kids. You did what you felt was best for them. And, it's not too late to pursue your dream. With your kids in school, you could still attend law school, if that's what you really want to do.

That's the great thing about education. It's never too late to get more!

I went back to school at 35 to get my Master's. It's not easy, but it can be done!

:)

[_harmony]

I went back to school at 35 to get my Master's. It's not easy, but it can be done!

:)

Is 35 the magic year? I went back to school at 35, with one year of college under my belt. I finished 7 years later with my Master's degree. I was offered entrance into the PhD program, but I was so tired of driving 225 miles round trip twice a week to get to class that I just couldn't physically do it anymore. And a PhD would certainly not help me do what I do now.

With online degrees that are offered by accredited schools, it's possible to get a degree, even if you live on a ranch miles from Podunk, Montana. I don't know if a law degree is possible that way, though. I'd have to drive 2 hours one way to get to the nearest law school from where I live, and that would be a huge burden.

[_Yoda]

Is 35 the magic year?

LOL! It must be!

Online programs are great. I completed close to half of my Master's program in Computer Science through online classes.

More and more universities are offering online courses as part of their curriculum. At UNCG, where I completed my Master's, you can actually complete an entire Bachelor's program in Liberal Arts completely online.

Part of my role at the Community College where I teach involves online curriculum development.

If anyone here has questions about legitimate, accredited online courses, and how to locate them, please PM me. I help guide students in this direction all the time.

And, like in your case, Barrelomonkeys, if you're really interested in pursuing law, you may not be able to take all of your courses online, but you might be able to complete some of them that way. With your kids in school, you're approaching an era where you have a little bit more flexibility.

Good luck!

:)

[_harmony]

Online programs are great. I completed close to half of my Master's program in Computer Science through online classes.

I have a daughter in law who is pursuing her MBA via online. It's a growing mechanism for getting a degree.

[_Yoda]

You see? This is useful discussion!

Why can't we learn to be a support system for each other like this in real life?

THESE are the kind of options we should be discussing at Homemaking Meetings!

;)

[_Scottveg3]

hey liz, do you happen to know of any online master degrees where I can get a masters in envior. studies? Looking into my options :)

[_barrelomonkeys]

Thanks for the support! I agree Liz, women should offer support instead of tearing each other down. I plan on going back one day. :)

[_Yoda]

hey liz, do you happen to know of any online master degrees where I can get a masters in envior. studies? Looking into my options :)

I did an online google search and came up with the following link:

http://programs.gradschools.com/distanc ... udies.html

I would also check the more well-known accredited online schools such as University of Phoenix, etc.

If you are looking to cut down on cost (which, of course, we all are!), I would suggest taking a look at some of the universities in your local area. Check out their websites. It might surprise you what types of online degrees they offer. Also, even though they may not offer the entire degree program online, they still may offer a bulk of it online.

PM me, and I'll go into more detail.

:)

[_Seven]

Argueing against a stay at home mother is like argueing against the sky being blue. It is a basic human concept. Like shelter, food, air and love. A mother is a caregiver and teacher to her children, she makes a house a home. Whatever satrisfaction a woman gets from going out into the world and having a career is misplaced. Her carreer will not follow her into the eternities, but her children will, and if she has failed to teach them gospel principles and care for them as she should have, her inactions and misplaced efforts wil be a burning scar on her soul.

There is no substitute for the Home. Its foundation is as ancient as the world, and its mission has been ordained of God from the earliest times. From Abraham sprang two ancient races represented in Isaac and Ishmael. The one built stable homes and prized its land as a divine inheritance. The other became children of the desert and as restless as its ever shifting sands upon which their tents were pitched. From that day to the present, the home has been the chief characteristic of superior over inferior nations. The home then is more than a habitation, it is an institution which stands for stability and love in individuals as well as in nations...

A Latter-Day Saint who has no ambition to establish a home and give it permanency has not a full conception of a sacred duty the gospel imposes upon him. It may be necessary at times to change our abode; but a change should never be made for light or trivial reasons, nor to satisfy a restless spirit. - Joseph F. Smith, JI 38:144; 145, March 1, 1903

When two Latter-Day Saints are united together in marriage, promises are made to them concerning their offspring that reach from eternity to eternity. They are promised that they shall have the power and the right to govern and control and administer salvation and exaltation and glory to their offspring worlds without end. And what offspring they do not have here, undoubtedly there will be opportunities to have them hereafter. What else could man wish? A man and a woman in the other life, having celestial bodies, free from sickness and disease, glorified and beautified beyond description, standing in the midst of their posterity, governing and controling them, administering life, exaltation and glory, worlds without end. - Lorenzo Snow, DWN 54:481, March 13, 1897

I agree with the general message of your post but not looking through Mormon eyes. There is no more important job on earth than raising children with good morals and values so they can benefit the world and mankind with their life and service. For me, this has nothing to do with the Mormon religion or any religion. Having said that, do you believe a mother can do this while she also pursues an education or career?

If you can do your duty as a father and also hold down a job, then why can't the mother?

You said:

Will my job matter in a thousand years? No

But my children will, and they will curse or glorify my name dependent on what I teach then here in this life and what efforts I put forth in regards to instructing them in heavenly things. If I neglect my duty in praying with them, or teachign them from the scriptures, or assisting them in bearing the priesthood or marrying a worthy priesthood bearer, their sins wil be upon my own head.

My work at my Job will go the way of the earth, it will rot and turn to dust and is nothing in the eternal sense. My children will follow me into the eternities.

I am wondering how you apply those thoughts to yourself when you go to work each day.

Can a woman teach her children these values and also expand her mind and talents outside of her duties as mother?