Career or Essential Child Care? That is the Question
By Sondria Pemberton

ST THOMAS-- In the heart of Wintberg, deep in the countryside of St. Thomas, Latoya Walsh awakens to the routine of another day as a stay-at-home mom. Her one-year-old son pokes her with a bottle to remind her that it is time for breakfast; she dwells on the thought that she will soon be faced with two bottles, for there is another child on the way. After breakfast, she proceeds with her daily customs of bathing, training, and equipping her son for the world through educational videos and activities.

Meanwhile, in Bolongo Bay, on the east end of St. Thomas, Yolanda Titus hurries off to work at the Bolongo Bay Resort after ensuring that her five children have been fed, properly clothed, and sent off to school comfortably for the day.

Will there be a significant difference in the results of the upbringing of these children?

“My experience prepares me for the future, when I have my own children,” says Waneka Douglas, the eldest of Titus’ children. She is a prime example of the scope of effects associated with being the child of a working mother. Douglas tells of having to “mother” her four younger siblings, while her mom often works late shifts to make ends meet.

Surprisingly, Douglas views her experience as beneficial, and she further attests that the cooking, cleaning, and nurturing gives her optimum training for the future.

Alternatively, Walsh whom we met earlier, feels that the time spent at home with her son, Jayden, is priceless and will be of great benefit to him.“At the daycare, there are always one or two kids who will be left out. As a stay-at-home mom, I am able to give Jayden total attention and teach him things that he would not learn from a daycare,” says a pensive Walsh.

James Pemberton, whose mother was also a stay-at-home mom says, “I appreciate the fact that I could always come home and receive parental help.” This kind of help is well needed in today’s society, where children face various forms of peer pressure such as drugs, sex, and criminal activities often around the time when school is out, and parents are off to work.

Yet, in today’s society, staying at home just isn’t an option for most moms. According to the Mortgage Bankers Association, every three months, 250,000 new families enter into foreclosure, and one child in every classroom in America is at risk of losing his home because parents are unable to pay their mortgage.

For a child, it can be devastating to have to see a parent fight for the very roof over his head. Some children can experience a pang of guilt resulting from them believing that they are the cause of their parent's inability to pay these bills because of their added expenses.

The current state of our economy plays a huge role when determining if a stay-at-home mom is actually more competent than a working mother. Many families are struggling trying to make ends meet with an extremely high and still increasing cost of living.

Michelle Esdaille, a working mother, says, “Working just to maintain stability in the household is essential. You have to provide financial needs, life insurance, and medical insurance.”

In the United States today, childrearing is a major issue especially among working mothers who are single parents. It is a difficult task for working mothers who are single parents to cope with their occupation, children, and household responsibilities.

Gloria Jacobs, a single working mother, says “Parental responsibilities are not easy tasks.”