I am so excited to feature my first ever guest post today – and even more excited because it’s written by my first blog-crush; Donna from Redhead Babyled! You can also find Donna on Twitter @genuineplacebo
So without further ado I will hand you over to Donna…
For some reason everywhere I look – On TV, in newspapers, online – There is a fascination at the moment of calling stay at home parents ‘Full Time Parents’. This has grated on me from the first time I heard it and continues to grate on me every time, so much so that it has inspired me to rant about it.
Anyone that has a child is a full time parent. You don’t stop being a parent when you go to work, when you go through a separation or divorce or when you go out for the evening and get a babysitter. Being a parent is not something you can switch on and off and is definitely not something that you can do ‘part time’ – Even parents that only see their children at weekends are still full time parents they just don’t get to see their children more often.
Being a stay at home parent is sometimes a thing of choice and sometimes a thing of necessity. It’s not an easy job to do – after two lots of maternity leave I know full well how hard staying at home with children is. I also know that going out to work when you have children is hard work – Broken sleep, missing the children, long commutes, missing milestones, only being there for an hour or two a day and having to play catch up at weekends and on days off.
Whether you go to work or stay at home you’re a full time parent. Going to work does not make you any less of a parent and to suggest it does is just insulting to all the working parents out there. Most of the time being a parent and working or staying at home is not a conscious choice but something that has to happen. Most of the time the process of returning, or not, to work is stressful enough without having the added pressure of whether you are a ‘Full Time Parent’ or not.
Whether we’re with our children all the time or not we are still parents, parenting.
I have to say I totally agree with Donna. I’m pretty sure it can’t have been a parent that first came up with the term ‘full time parent’! What do you think? Are there any other parenting labels that get on your nerves?
Yay! Thanks so much for featuring me! 🙂 And ‘Blog Crush’! That’s like an award! Love it 🙂 x
Completely agree. I’m going to be a parent that works but working does not supercede my parental responsibilities.
The other parenting label that annoys me is ‘solo parenting’ when not in reference to single parents x
Couldn’t agree more! I’ve said before about these ‘labels’ and how horse s*<t they are. Pay no attention to any of them!
Rhiannon, don't let these labels get to you. I've seen solo used a lot too on twitter, but like most labels, to be fair it's not in a nasty fashion. I think people tend to say 'solo' (and other labels) because they are limited with twitter characters. xx
A while back ( a couple of years ago) I DID call myself a full time parent in a blog post. It was not done to insult mothers who go to work, but simply because the term SAHM had such a bad rep in the group of bloggers I hung out with at the time. I really struggled to come up with a term that was NOT repulsive or insulting to others, but simply stated that I was at home with the kids all day. I think I only used the term in one post. Now I see this!
I can’t say that I have noticed the trend is now to call stay at home parents “full time parents”, but I do get frustrated by posts like this. I feel like I am caught between a rock and a hard place. Because I understand how bloody hard it is these days to express yourself without stepping on someone’s toes. I don’t think the people who use this trend do it to be insulting, but because they’ve run out of options.
Just my two cents 🙂