Mothers in Zion - why they're leaving

[Jersey Girl]

Change "the Boy" to "my husband", don't use my screen name or real name, and it's yours for the taking.

OK, thank you so much!

You're welcome.

[Dr. Shades]

This is why I never reproduced.

You missed her point entirely.

No, I didn't miss her point at all. The fact is that one of them had to deal with all of that sooner or later, and I never saw any need to create equivalent situations for myself.

[Physics Guy]

My mother stayed home to raise her three sons, and it was great to have her to do that. It may be the least of what we gained, but it's visible: we all three love to cook, and do the cooking in our families now. On the other hand, my mom is a very intelligent woman with an ability to manage people diplomatically that was very useful in her various volunteer activities over the years, but that I'm sure could have had more impact in the world if she had used it professionally.

My wife is also a professor (not in physics) and our children went into full-time daycare at young ages. They seem to have survived okay so far, with one now out on her own and the other in high school.

Being a stay-at-home parent is definitely plenty of work. We only have two kids but my siblings with more kids support my impression that the work scales fairly well. Two children are a lot harder than one, because they outnumber you, but each one added beyond two seems to add less to the burden. The kids keep each other occupied a lot of the time. One child can be a full-time job for one person, but two people really can manage quite a few kids. Daycares work.

Besides sheer person-hours of labor, being a stay-at-home parent also calls for talents and skills. I'm pretty sure, though, that it requires and rewards less in the way of specialised skills and talents than many of the things that most stay-at-home parents could be doing instead. Raising young children is important but illiterate peasants did it successfully for thousands of years. Most people today can probably do more for the world with a modern education put to use outside the home during work hours.

If looking after children is really what someone does best, then that is absolutely as respectable a calling as anything, but why not do it on a larger scale? They could be running a daycare or teaching in a primary school, so that more children than their own can benefit from their skills—and so that other parents can be freed to exercise their best talents effectively, too. Devoting the whole working life of an educated human adult to looking after the basic needs of just their own children seems like a waste of resources to me. It might be nice for those children to have so much brain power focused only on them, but I'm not sure that humans collectively can really afford that luxury. There are big problems out there.

[Marcus]

You missed her point entirely.

No, I didn't miss her point at all. The fact is that one of them had to deal with all of that sooner or later, and I never saw any need to create equivalent situations for myself.

No, that 'fact' wasn't her point. You still are missing it.

[Dr. Shades]

No, that 'fact' wasn't her point.

I agree; it wasn’t.

You still are missing it.

Her point was that, as a stay-at-home mother, she did not just “sit around,” as Jersey Boy mistakenly insinuated. She demonstrated, in the most practical way, what would result if she merely sat around, as he originally thought was all she did, and he learned his lesson posthaste.

[Marcus]

No, that 'fact' wasn't her point.

I agree; it wasn’t.

You still are missing it.

Her point was that, as a stay-at-home mother, she did not just “sit around,” as Jersey Boy mistakenly insinuated. She demonstrated, in the most practical way, what would result if she merely sat around, as he originally thought was all she did, and he learned his lesson posthaste.

Finally, you are talking about her point, and not about yourself.

[Dr. Shades]

This is why I never reproduced.

What you have an aversion to dried sweet potatoes stuck to the wall*?

*and on the floor, and on the table, and on the baby from their legs to their tummy, in their diaper, and in their hair?

Yes to all of the above.

[Jersey Girl]

What you have an aversion to dried sweet potatoes stuck to the wall*?

*and on the floor, and on the table, and on the baby from their legs to their tummy, in their diaper, and in their hair?

Yes to all of the above.

k

[Philo Sofee]

What is Dan's rebuttal to the way these women say they feel?

One of two things. He will ignore it as not important since the Gospel is true no matter who feels what. Or two he will say its lies and women are treated better in the church than any other place they could go. Something along those lines.

The one thing he will not do is what I am doing in about an hour on my live show. He will not present this information with a woman and ask her for some ideas on how this can be corrected.

Corrected? In DCP's mind, there will be nothing to correct, it is the Lord's "covenant path" and celestial glory awaits only those who adhere to that path in righteousness and non complaining or rocking the boat. Follow the prophet he knows the way, something lame like that.

Women have their own roles, men have theirs. You know, the lame attempts to keep from rocking the boat.

[Jersey Girl]

What is Dan's rebuttal to the way these women say they feel?

One of two things. He will ignore it as not important since the Gospel is true no matter who feels what. Or two he will say its lies and women are treated better in the church than any other place they could go. Something along those lines.

The one thing he will not do is what I am doing in about an hour on my live show. He will not present this information with a woman and ask her for some ideas on how this can be corrected.

Corrected? In DCP's mind, there will be nothing to correct, it is the Lord's "covenant path" and celestial glory awaits only those who adhere to that path in righteousness and non complaining or rocking the boat. Follow the prophet he knows the way, something lame like that.

Women have their own roles, men have theirs. You know, the lame attempts to keep from rocking the boat.

Who cares what DCP thinks? It's not like he's a prominent anything except in his own bubble. After all these years, I don't always understand why anyone here thinks he's even mention worthy. Now if you ask me, I'd be interested in his tours of the Holy Land. (Not now of course). I think he likely excels in that regard and of course, Near Eastern Studies which is his real topic. Apologetic rhetoric? Nah. Check your messages, please.