The Mommy Wars: Stay At Home Mom versus Working Mom. Which is best for the kids?

My latest via Divorced Moms. Honestly, I cannot wait for summer-- it's my favorite time of year. I truly love keeping my kids busy, the flexibility of it all, and going fun places. Exploring. I love the sun and the heat. Yesterday it snowed in Utah and was miserable cold. Today, no snow but it is still miserably cold. GET ME OUT OF HERE. Ok, fine, I will! Morgan and I fly to Las Vegas tomorrow night for the weekend, and in nine days, we are going to Costa Rica for Spring Break. I cannot wait to be warm every day and to wear sundresses and flip flops again.

Happy Hump Day!

Lizzy

I Stepped Into the Mommy Wars: Are Kids Better Off At Home?
by Lizzy Smith                    

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March 23, 2016

With my daughters’ Spring Break just next week, I’ve started thinking about our summer plans. My gosh it is coming quick—just two more months and they’re done!

Before I got sick with cancer and went on medical leave, I worked full time for Corporate America. This meant that their summer vacation wasn’t mine, so I had to hurry up and sign up my children for al-day camps before the best ones filled up. The cost was staggering but you know what? They loved their summers. Though they couldn’t sleep in (my then-hubby and I had to get to the office early), they got to pick camps based on their interests. One week, it was swim camp, another was skateboarding, then ice skating or crafts… Their favorite (and was the priciest) was a week spent at different theme parks in Southern California: Knott’s Berry Farm, Belmont Park, Sea World, Legoland, and a big waterpark.

Post cancer diagnosis, our lives became very different. For starters, I no longer work a 9-5 job at the office. This gives me loads of flexibility and I can take my laptop on the road and do anything from any location. The first summer, I was left scratching my head on how we would spend our time together. It was awesome as, for the first time in my adult life, I could play with my children. I filled it by taking trips (one was a 17-day trek on Amtrak across the USA with stops in Chicago, Washington DC and New York City; another was several weeks in Los Angeles hanging out with friends who were teachers and had the summer off of work, too), going to the local rec center and hanging out at the pool (them swimming, me reading magazines under a huge tree), and taking day excursions to local museums and venues like the zoo. On the days that I had nothing planned, it drove me bat-crazy to see my children sleep all day and watch TV. I literally couldn’t handle it so I’d drag them back out to a movie, or shopping, or just a drive up the canyon.

So what to do this summer? I started making phone calls to local places that are likely running day camps—a climbing facility, a local kids’ museum, recreation centers, cheer clubs… I am not joking—every single one of these places has camps, but they run for about two hours. That’s it. I am not happy. “That’s not a camp, that’s a class,” I’ve said to many of the employees. “Where are your all day camps?” I get these blank stares and usually a nervous giggle. “You’re in Utah!” one woman said with a glare.

What the hell is that supposed to mean? Parents in Utah don’t have jobs? I have literally never seen more little children in my entire life. What the heck are these parents doing with them all summer? I went on a quest to find out.

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