August 26th, 2004
The stay-at-homes don’t get it
» motherhood
I am puzzled.
“The WMCR (working mother child relief) is given in recognition of the additional responsibilities that working mothers shoulder. It is also an incentive to encourage women to rejoin or continue to be part of the workforce after childbirth.” -Family Town
Its seems that mothers who choose to stay at home to care for their kids are not deemed desirable afterall! While it is heartening to see incentives given to working mothers, isn’t it logical to encourage stay at home moms to lay more eggs? I thought this will be the group who will be more willing to go for the second, third or fourth or more if they think the new baby is within their means. Hmm…perphaps the committee don’t think in this direction. The aim is to encourage working moms to break the zero mark. Those willing and encouraged ones don’t need more encouragements.
This package doesn’t really has anything to do with me, neither will it affect our family planning decision. Looks like I get to cut $95 from the maid’s levy, but my father is the one contributing the levy. Good for him, he can give more treats during his daily coffee shop uncles’ friendly debating sessions. However, as a true Singaporean, I need to stand by the “people have, I also must have” attitude…haha!
August 27th, 2004 at 12:02 am
Yeah, I’m also another stay-at-home mummy (SAHM) who won’t benefit much from the new baby policies. I guess from the economic standpoint, we don’t contribute much to society because we don’t work? On the other hand, I feel that we do sacrifice more than the working moms because not only are we giving up our income (think of the nice things that we used to buy with our own money before we stopped work), also our time (we don’t have time-outs with kids the way we have time-outs with our bosses or colleagues at work). I can see why some would rather “escape” to the workplace to work and leave their wailing and fussy baby with maid or another alternative caregiving. It’s not easy to be giving and giving and giving all the time. This is all in exchange for the extra bonding that we can have with our kids and also to be present in every single one of their milestones and to be actively involved in them every day. Rewards/bonuses comes in smiles and laughter and perhaps later on hugs and kisses. A lot of people (esp. the childless and/or the unmarried) perceive being SAHM as a brainless or boring “job”. Those of us in the game know that we put what we have learnt to good use in every way we can, to bring out the best in our child. Kudos to all SAHMs.
August 28th, 2004 at 1:17 am
Yeah!! Many people think that we wasted our education by staying at home and some even think we do nothing except “kiao kah” or go shopping everyday….Actually I go shopping almost everyday, at the mall across the street, to the supermarket in my shorts, t shirt and sandals. Thats the kind of shopping we do, not the tai tai kind down orchard road.
September 3rd, 2004 at 9:32 am
I do think that being a SAHM is a luxury… because we could enjoy every moment of having our bubs close to us and we see them as they grow!
I guess SAHMs are getting more sophisticated nowadays… not like in the past where SAHMs = AUNTIES! lol
Due to the nature of my work, i get to come home in the day when i want to, to feed Tim and off i go! btw, we have a SAHD here :)) Hes happy staying home, so we are all good
September 4th, 2004 at 11:33 pm
I thought you are a stay at home mom too, because you are still nursing little tim. Must be tiring running around, work, feed baby, husband, housework….!
It is always good that at least one of the parents is around with the kid. I had a friend who is also a SAHD. He left his job to look after his kids, and I really think he did a great job, so must be your husband.
September 5th, 2004 at 2:57 pm
Its a choice we took cos i have flexible working hours, rush rush home to nurse Tim cos he hates the bottle. Domestic helpers are that reliable… hence the current arrangement. We share our household chores, I cook… he cleans
He cook???? i cant eat! Yuck! lol Anyway, he gets bored at home sometimes, so he does his computer stuff, scripting etc.