by Marie Herron

Created on: April 06, 2009   Last Updated: April 07, 2009

These days the stay at home mother gets very little credit for her immense sacrifice. It is as if the world has forgotten the order of nature and that a woman's body is designed not only to give life, but to nourish it. When a woman chooses to stay at home with her children to nurse them and raise them with the kind of attention and security that every child in the begging stages of life so desperately need to establish solid foundations, she should not be criticized. It is in the instincts and design of a woman to want to be near her children in the beginning of their lives. We are after all mammals, and we tend to want to forget that.

Children need the sense of security that is provided by always knowing where to find their mother, be it for comfort or nourishment or just to acknowledge them. In the first years of life any mother can tell her child constantly seeks her out just to make sure she is still there. When a child gets hurt, every mother knows that they will look at you as if you should not have allowed it, and want instant comfort. They are working on pure instinct. From birth they grasp for you and want to feel your presence. As they grow they look to you for encouragement and support.

No mother wants to miss their child's first steps or first word, however society has made it so that women are pressured to go out into the workforce, just to feel like they are being a productive citizen. Creating and maintaining the next generation is more than productive, it is responsible. Women are feeling so much pressure to bring home a pay check that they are leaving home to go to work far before their children are naturally ready for the separation.

With the addition of baby formula, society makes women feel like wanting to raise their children first hand is merely an excuse to stay home. When studies show that breast fed children are far more advanced mentally than formula fed children. Women were born with "the formula". Studies also show that children have higher confidence levels and they exhibit less behavioral problems when the have the security and attention of a loving mother. Babies can't be expected to understand why your leaving them every day, it creates anxiety and uncertainty from a young age.

If a woman has a supportive husband by her side, he should encourage her to give their children the best start in the world. That means her milk, that is specifically engineered for her child, and her attention and love. You can not put a price tag on the immense responsibility and value of the stay at home mother. She does more than bring life, she supports it, nourishes it and creates an environment for it to thrive. Stay at home mothers not only raise our children, we also make a warm home environment for the family structure to grow.

Are Stay at home mothers appreciated enough? Until we start getting the Nobel prize...I should say, not.

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