De-valuing the Mother

Warning...this post is a little cranky.  If you are having a lovely day and the sunbeams are following you in your very footsteps, please come back to this another day.

Should it be so surprising to me, in this world, where we ravage, strip, rape, sell for profit, and saturate with more and more toxic chemicals and sludge the Earth, our own Mother, that Motherhood is de-valued?   We have come a long way, so we tell ourselves, in women's rights and respect, that women can vote, run a corporation and be master of her self.  But isn't there a parallel between the state of our Earth, and the little value we place on Mothers?  I have had countless conversations with close friends, family, strangers about how one can't find affordable child care.  Hmm, I ask, you believe the person caring for and seeing to the needs of your Creation your child, should be payed less than you for doing something else?

For a time, our son was enrolled in a private school which held the philosophy that the health and well being, the soul growth of the child depended entirely on their environment and surroundings.  They need a calm daily rhythm, warmth, nurturance, simplicity,  no t.v, beauty, wholesome food, regular meal and rest times and calm, centered and nurturing parents.  They believed this so important that they would offer free evening workshops on developing these qualities.  But here's the rub.  Their tuition was high, as is the tuition of most privately run schools, so they offered financial aid.  However, only, only if both parents were working.  the mother was expected to hold at least a part-time job.  Hmm?  Who did they think would hold together the family?  Who would be the hearth-keeper?  Who would create nourishing meals and lovingly tuck the children into bed?   Would would be calm enough to hold firm to the no-medial policy of the school if Mother was also stressed out, strung out and deleted from working a full and part-time job?  What about the job of Mother, that unpaid, full-time vocation?

We live in a society that expects, and even is economically based upon two-income families. Yet, what is becoming of our children?  Who is available to be "present" for their children when each parent is employed outside of the home?

I do agree that some women really are meant to work, they are their best loving and nurturing selves when they do. They come home to their children re-vitalized and full of enthusiasm and creativity.   But many are not, and they would love to stay at home, and care for their families.  There is absolutely nothing wrong with this.  I would love to see a world where the stay-at-home parent is cherished by society.  Our children desperately need this.  Our world needs children who aren't rushed, who grow up feeling that lovely warmth of a cared-for family.

I'd really like to hear from you on this subject.  I sincerely hope I have not offended anyone here as I do believe each mother is doing what it absolutely the best thing for their family and children.  I do dream of a day when mothers have a true choice.