Mothers at home matter

Mollygo

My Nan looked after us so my Mum could work. Was there child care in the sixties apart from family?

I don't remember childminding being available in the sixties, but I don't live quite near a metro area either.

As for working off hours to OH - precisely what he did, ate a sandwich, went straight away to a small second job whilst I did meals, baths, bedtime.

Weekends he built his business, on our property, and I cared for home, garden/property, and our children.

All this makes sense to me. However - no sense for many others.

The national child minding association I think it was called at the time was established in 1977 so I am guessing childminding as a thing was going a good few years before that.

If you think staying at home is “tedious and fries the brain”, you are clearly not suited to doing it. I found it extremely interesting and stimulating. ( I have two degrees, by the way.)

I had some money of my own from when I did earn. We shared what we had - nothing demeaning about it.

Grandma70s

If you think staying at home is “tedious and fries the brain”, you are clearly not suited to doing it. I found it extremely interesting and stimulating. ( I have two degrees, by the way.)

I had some money of my own from when I did earn. We shared what we had - nothing demeaning about it.

I hold my hands up here and admit that I was not suited to it. I certainly don't look down at anyone who chooses to stay at home and look after children - in fact, I take my hat off to them because it's a bloody hard job! I'm not a patient person when it comes to children. I'm not the kind to coo over babies or dote on small children, it's just not in my nature. My children were happier and better off with a mum who worked.

Galaxy

The national child minding association I think it was called at the time was established in 1977 so I am guessing childminding as a thing was going a good few years before that.

It was - childminders were registered with the local authorities before that. Hundreds of thousands more were childminders without being registered too of course, so they were also working mothers.

I was born in '63 and although my mother was a stay-at-home mum, I did go to a 'kindergarten' just down the road from our house, because she felt it would be good for me to mix with other children, especially as I was an only child.

Blondiescot

I was born in '63 and although my mother was a stay-at-home mum, I did go to a 'kindergarten' just down the road from our house, because she felt it would be good for me to mix with other children, especially as I was an only child.

I was born in 1943.

It may be well noted we are all of different generations.

I was born in 1945 and because my mother was ill I went to a day nursery just before my third birthday. It was free and my dad took me on his way to work and picked me up on his way home. There was more nursery provision at the end of WW2 than at any time since. Funny how the government could find the money when they wanted women to work.

Glorianny
How sad is that

Glorianny

I was born in 1945 and because my mother was ill I went to a day nursery just before my third birthday. It was free and my dad took me on his way to work and picked me up on his way home. There was more nursery provision at the end of WW2 than at any time since. Funny how the government could find the money when they wanted women to work.

I remember going to nursery, it was attached to the local infants' school. We didn't start school until the September after we were 5.
My mother was working part-time so I went to nursery two or three days a week, I think.

I remember having a daily nap on a camp bed. Or trying to!

I believe the saying-"It takes a village."
No one should be made to feel that their choice is wrong. What suits one may be impossible for another. The only thing that matters is that children feel loved and cared for.

I was born in 1943. For most of my childhood I had a working mother and was one in my turn. My maternal grandmother also worked, although as a professional dressmaker she worked from home and so one through countless generations.

I worked, my husband worked. We were a team. Isn’t that the way it’s supposed to be ? It’s the way I’ve brought my family up nobody kowtows, it’s a partnership and that’s the way it is. My daughter is as independent as brothers and I believe her brothers are as enlightened.
I have gone back in my volunteering years to childcare as I do not find it brain frying at all, I love being with them….

Callistemon21

Glorianny

I was born in 1945 and because my mother was ill I went to a day nursery just before my third birthday. It was free and my dad took me on his way to work and picked me up on his way home. There was more nursery provision at the end of WW2 than at any time since. Funny how the government could find the money when they wanted women to work.

I remember going to nursery, it was attached to the local infants' school. We didn't start school until the September after we were 5.
My mother was working part-time so I went to nursery two or three days a week, I think.

I remember having a daily nap on a camp bed. Or trying to!

I remember those Callistemon and the blanket they covered you up with. It was dark grey and quite rough and it made my legs itch. I can remember trying to pull my dress over my knees so it didn't touch me.

My nursery was a huge room inside the primary part of the school. I’ll never forget those little beds and a big coal fire in the winter.

In the 50's some state schools had nurseries attached others were stand alone state nurseries. DH went to nursery and can remember being put to sleep on a truck bed. I had to line up in the september before I was 5 and they counted how many they could take and if you were unlucky you went home and were counted the next term.
Most women that I knew did part time work when their last child had gone to school. My own mother worked full time and my father and gran did the child care until she got in.
I think our grans just like the grans today were more than willing to help with child care.They had got a taste of working during the wars liked the independence it gave them and the extra cash for the family.

I stayed at home until my DC were 6 or 7. Worked at home then part time work.
Don't regret it as it went well

Glorianny

Callistemon21

Glorianny

I was born in 1945 and because my mother was ill I went to a day nursery just before my third birthday. It was free and my dad took me on his way to work and picked me up on his way home. There was more nursery provision at the end of WW2 than at any time since. Funny how the government could find the money when they wanted women to work.

I remember going to nursery, it was attached to the local infants' school. We didn't start school until the September after we were 5.
My mother was working part-time so I went to nursery two or three days a week, I think.

I remember having a daily nap on a camp bed. Or trying to!

I remember those Callistemon and the blanket they covered you up with. It was dark grey and quite rough and it made my legs itch. I can remember trying to pull my dress over my knees so it didn't touch me.

Oh yes, those grey blankets!
I remember having a nose bleed at nursery and the teacher put a cold key down my back!

There were no nurseries when my older two were small, no family nearby, DH was often away so I was a SAHM for a few years.
I enjoyed it.

tedious and fries the brain - lots of jobs do that
Housework was tedious and pretty brain frying but not raising children, what is more, interesting than supporting a child's development and their early education. I'd never have wanted to be a teacher but supporting my own children in their development and interests is a wholly different matter
Going on to flexible part-time work as they got older meant I was there to look after them during the holidays and after school, some of their friends were left at far too young an age to fend for themselves and often had those along too. With a husband who worked long hours [by choice] childcare would have been extremely expensive, we'd have needed another car, and I'd not have kept costs down as easily if I'd been working full time. the long hours meant that starting a side hustle would have been very hard, I'd have liked to have done that, but I found a job I loved and which fitted into family life and meant as time went on I could support my parents in their old age. I was able to fit in volunteering around it too, which benefits society, and study
There are a thousand and one jobs that are mind-numbingly tedious and brain frying, I know I did some of them during the vacations while at uni.

Housework was tedious and pretty brain frying but not raising children

I agree.

Anyway, housework etc still has to be done whether you are working or not working outside the home unless you can earn enough to pay a cleaner.

Being lower paid than my DIL my son gave up work to be a SAH Dad when they had my GC, now at school he has gone back to work full time. He did a really good job of it and I'm proud of him.

I was a stay at home mum, but it was is a farm , so always doing farm stuff b&b and paying guests.I.was definitely exploited by working mums who would organise play dates where I had kids in school holidays and after school where the element of reciprocity was unbalanced ,I look back now and think I should have said no .

With my three I've done a balancing act. Being disabled is hard work but I firmly believe that no one can care for or look after my children better than I do. I had them to be with them, to teach them, and watch them grow into the people they are. There is a need for social development from a young age too. Mine stayed with me and we went to baby groups-toddler groups until age two. They then went to preschool for three hours a day, so that they had a good balance of social interaction with and without me and we're also used to a classroom environment ready for school.
I think they are well-rounded individuals who know I'm there for them anytime to help.
This doesn't mean it is one size fits all. In today's society, two working adults are needed to pay the bills. Women taking the time of work are vulnerable financially and rely on the working partner for that duration and are overlooked for promotion due to child care if the child is ill or holiday care can't be found. Paying for childcare is an astronomical expense.

I worked full-time when my children were small, apart from six month maternity leaves. They both went to nursery full time from the age of six months. They've turned into well-balanced, intelligent, happy, caring adults too.

I really object to posts which imply that I somehow failed them because I wasn't at home throughout their childhood.

I sometimes think that people forget that being a SAHM has only happened since the end of WW2. Before that, working class women usually worked, often taking in work such as laundry or sewing. If the worked outside the home as servants or shop assistants, they usually left the children to be cared for by neighbours, relatives or older siblings. Wealthier women had housekeepers and nannies. It can't have been all bad because the human race has somehow thrived.