Are you a "kid-sick" parent?
If so, have hope. You've been diagnosed. And all you need is a good "parent-ectomy" to cheer you up.
The Associated Press reported July 12 that many American parents are afflicted with a malady some experts dub "kid-sickness." Contrary to what you might think, this "sickness" is not about parents who are sick of their kids. It's about parents who actually want to spend time with their kids. And it's considered an ailment needing a cure.
This summer, more than 10 million children are attending recreational camps across America. And according to Boston-based family therapist Bob Ditter, many of their parents are missing them while they're gone.
Pointing to a developing cultural shift in how parents interact with their kids, Ditter observes that this "kid-sickness" particularly affects parents in their 30s and 40s who experienced being "latchkey kids" during the 1970s and '80s. "They came home to an empty house, and they don't want their kids to go through what they went through," he says.
Eve Pidgeon in Michigan remembers the days when most mothers stayed home with their children. She describes the overwhelming sadness she felt when her child left for a camp last summer: "It was nothing for our mothers to send us away for two months. We were their jobs 24 hours a day, so perhaps they needed a respite. They perhaps didn't ache for their kids on a daily basis, as working parents do."
What an interesting observation.
It's no surprise that so many mothers feel maternal emptiness today. Most are marching to the beat of someone else's drum. They have lost their bearings. Society's capitulation to socialist-inspired feminism has resulted in women morphing into unisex drones.
In short, the art of femininity is lost in the cultural confusion. And nowhere is this seen more vividly than in the role of motherhood where many women habitually succumb to marketing, media hype, convenience and social pressure. For example:
- In America, a baby is aborted by his/her mother every 20 seconds.
- The U.S. has the second-worst newborn death rate in the modern world. Studies show infant mortality rates for births attended by doctors to be far higher than for those attended by non-nurse midwives, yet most mothers follow the crowd into hospital-based births.
- The World Health Organization recommends that babies be breastfed for at least two years to gain optimal nutritional and long-term health advantage, yet most American mothers wean their young by 6 months due to social pressures.
- Most women believe that the teaching of their children is a job best left to "professionals" in spite of research showing that homeschool children markedly outperform their public school peers in all areas.
- The home is no longer "mom-centric" because she has swallowed the lie that her value lies in taking on the breadwinner role to "contribute to society." Few will admit it, but the epidemic of childhood obesity can be laid at the feet of mothers who have abandoned their responsibility to cook nutritious meals in the home, opting instead for the convenience of fast food and TV dinners.
The good news is that many women are beginning to connect with their maternal instincts. They are confidently shoving the marketers, the media and the naysayers out the door. They are coming back home.
A July 3 article in The Epoch Times examined why many mothers are giving up careers to spend more time with their children. Past studies have focused on incomes, ethnicity and education levels, but journalist Sharon Kilarski discovered deeper reasons why 8-to-5 working mothers are beginning to come home to be with their children.
One mother, Gina Scarnegie, said she wanted "to see it all, the first this and that of her child's development." She also did not want to leave her child in the care of strangers.
"We did it for the love of our daughter. Love and protection," Scarnegie said.
In truth, the contagion so-called experts label "kid-sickness" is a sign that many parents are beginning to find an anchor. Many families are growing stronger as their priorities shift into better focus.
Scarnegie is already thinking about the example she sets for her own daughter as she grows into womanhood. It makes little sense to spend up to $200,000 for a college education aimed at becoming a doctor or lawyer when a young woman dreams of enjoying her own family one day. "I wouldn't want to push her to pursue a big career if I sensed her calling wasn't in a job but in family and children," Scarnegie said.
Clearly, obtaining a financially feasible education is not an issue, but abandoning the full-time career of mothering is.
In a book review of Suzanne Venker's "7 Myths of Working Mothers," Jerica Griff states, "A mother's education is of great benefit to her children, but only if the mother is present to impart that knowledge to them."
It is sick to slap the label "kid-sick" on parents desiring to be with their children. "Parents – and particularly mothers – are being taught that leaving their children should become easy and natural," Griff added.
She's right. It is not natural.
Asking a key question, Scarnegie said, "Wouldn't they want their children to grow up like they did, with a mom at home?"
Nothing could possibly be better.