Stone Soup by Jan Eliot for January 23, 2011

Dude, her husband died. She’s a widow. She has no choice in the matter and has to work.

She’s also not clueless. She’s a very good mom. And in case you didn’t know, most moms find that they have to work. A two-income family is an economic necessity.

Sheesh nab - bitter much?

One parent can stay home and raise the kids on an average income but you have to be a very good budgeter and money manager.

All moms work. Many have a job outside the home besides. Someday Holly and Alix will realize this.

Holly’s correct, mom has to work, society isn’t like when I grew up in the 60’s and 70’s and it wasn’t common for mom’s to work-my mom did go to work and at night which meant I had to be responsible for some things at home-but we all managed!

someone here is clueless, but it isn’t Mom.

Three cheers for moms who work From their duties they do not shirk Pay the bills, provide a home Grind their fingers to the bone No matter what the job may be They deserve support from you and me. Working hard and working long Rarely celebrated in a song Theirs is not an easy task A fair shake is all they ask From the corporate office to the greasy spoon Working hours that will make you swoon They seek to bring home the bacon Though their bodies may be achin’ So to the working moms throughout the land You deserve a great big hand.

Thanks to television shows, nobody realized stay-at-home moms weren’t that universal in the first place.

I wonder what the family sitcom would have looked like if it was set in the early 40s instead of the late 50s.

That poem was very nice, wndrwrthg. Thank You very much!!

With the way the economy is going we in the US may see a permanent high unemployment rate like Europe. If that happens we very well may see the house crisis get worse and a return of more stay at home parents. My household has less income now…we’re making it but just barely. I think it’s a good idea for a parent to be home raising kids when possible. They need that influence. But for every stay at home parent…folks my mom worked harder staying at home then I ever do at my 40 hr week job.

For the most part, I love the rational comments so far. Having been on both sides (working mom and stay-at-home mom), I hate the whole “which is better” argument. It only pulls us apart when we all need to come together for the children’s sake.

Having said that, it’s a much different world than when any of us grew up and will continue to change. We need to recognize that and do the best we can with the situations that we have, and stop judging each other.

First of all I want to thank wndrwrthg for that delightful poem. That poem would be great for mother’s day too. Myself I grew up with a mom that stayed at home. Dad worked up to a point. Local major aircraft back when I was a kid had major lay-offs, when company’s around found out you worked at this major aircraft they would decline. My dad had to leave state and go elsewhere for work. I was working full time just about minimum wage, meat my future husband, then when our first baby, had to give it up, I couldn’t afford daycare and hubby didn’t want to help. We did have a 2nd child. Years later I decided to go back to tech school. Our oldest when I went back to school and had morning class would not go to school so I would have to leave and get him to go. After ward I finally after 2 years of looking just got a part time position and been stuck no advancement at all. What most mom’s don’t know and I’ve seen this happen too many times when mom stays home something happens with dad health wise and mom has to go back to work.

Oh both our kids are adults, one has an assoicate degree and two dipolma’s the oldest who didn’t care for school nothing change and no job. Me I have gone back in for a different change taking classes on-line. Now the job market sinks.

I want to add to the strip. Alix you need to realize. Your mom provides you with a house, food, and clothes and give time when she can. Holly has a better prospective on this.

Thank you wndrwrthg . I’m passing that tidbit on to my daughter. She feels guilty being away from home and family so much, what with 3 hours a day commuting and a 9 hour work day. But, economically, its a necessity.

Everyone(for the most part, disregarding bitter and incorrect first posts) is making wonderful points about working moms, the economy, and the change from when those of us who are now middle aged were growing up. What no one is commenting on is the profound switch of having Alix be sullen and unreasonable and Holly being the calm voice of reason. When is the last time that happened in this strip. Could they both be growing up (Alix into adolescence and Holly out of it)? Nah!

Sometimes “Choice” is thrust upon you>

I married a Viet Nam vet who was not able to deal with the pettiness of the regular work environment. I encouraged him to set up his own business.

By selling tools and machinery, he has supported us for 40 years and has even paid off our mortgage.

But we could never have afforded health insurance. I worked for the last 35 years so we could have health coverage and a modest retirement.

If this country had basic universal health coverage, a lot more families could live on a single income.

I agree, it wouldn’t matter which parent stayed home, but having a parent at home would benefit the children.

We compromised, by only having 1 child. (I wanted more) My husband worked from home, so he was there when our son came home from school.

It was really frustrating that no matter how many times we told the school to call my husband at home, if our son got sick at school, the school would always call me at work.

HOLLY is the mature one this time? She may yet grow up.

One parent can stay home and raise the kids on an average income but you have to be a very good budgeter and money manager.

All moms work. Many have a job outside the home besides. Someday Holly and Alix will realize this.