Raising a child is not an easy task. It entails a lot of work and sacrifices on the part of both the mother and the father. From the moment the mother learns that she is pregnant, she has to take care of her physical, emotional and mental health for the sake of the baby within her. She has to change her lifestyle, start eating healthy food, take her vitamins, and keep her doctor’s appointment to monitor the baby’s growth.  On the part of the father, he has to work doubly hard to be able to support the needs of the mother-to-be and the coming baby.

The excitement of the coming birth of a child is slightly overshadowed by the thought of taking care of a new baby. As the birth date draws near, there are things that a new mom and dad have to take care of. There are baby clothes to buy, crib, beddings, baby carrier, baby toiletries, disposable diapers and more. Then there is the big decision for the mom if she will breastfeed or not; go back to work or not and a million other things. The dad also has to worry about finances and his role in rearing the child.

It is now archaic to relegate the rearing of a child solely to the mother as it is as archaic to expect the father to be the only provider. Parenting has evolved. The father is expected to be hands-on in taking care of a child as the mother is also expected to help out with the family finances.

mother and child

The new parents now are the Gen X’ers and the Gen Y. These two generations believe in all things (and roles) as being equal.  The tired working mom has every right as the tired working dad. If it’s mom’s turn to feed the baby at 3:00 A.M. today, and then dad has to do the honors the following day. If dad is expected to give his share in household and baby’s expenses, mom is also expected to give her share if she is working.

The working mom has no real dilemma with regards to who will take care of the baby. Depending on what country you live in, there’s the daycare, a nanny, a grandma or another relative to take care of the baby during the day.  The question is:  “will a mom-child relationship be sacrificed if the mom is working?”  A good answer to this question is another question: “will it be better for the mom to stay at home even if it would mean there’d be less food on the table and less opportunity for her child?”

A working mother might still be in effect to be a nurturing mother if she could juggle her time between work and  spending quality time with her baby. A father needs to do some bonding with his baby too. Parenting is a never ending process.  A tip: a well-loved child is a happy child.