Stay-at-Home vs. Working Parents

The Louis Woodward Murder trial, also known as "The Boston Nanny Murder Case", has probably generated more media attention than any other trial since the O.J.Simpson murder trial. On October 30, 1997, the jury convicted Louis Woodward of second-degree murder in the shaking death of 8-month-old Matthew Eappen. The Judge in this case, Judge Hiller B. Zobel, has been asked by the defense attorneys to overturn the jury verdict, or to reduce the conviction to a manslaughter charge. His decision could come as early as Monday, November 10.

One reason this case has attracted such national attention is that it brings up so many issues important to all parents. One issue that has come out of this case is that perhaps some working parents might want to reexamine their options concerning childcare, or even consider working out of their homes, especially while their children are infants.

Before I go into the options available to working parents, I do want to make one point. I am NOT judging parents who work outside of the home. I realize everyone has different financial needs, different career goals, and different psychological needs that might make staying-at-home not an option. But I also feel that this case has made staying-home versus working outside of the home an issue, once again, so I think it is important that I write about this.

Alternative Day Care
I received a very interesting email from a working mom, who has chosen a more expensive daycare center instead of a home-based daycare business. Lisa wrote:

"One of the reasons we've decided to have our children attend day care at a center, rather than be cared for in our home, is that there are more checks and balances in a center. We've seen far too many scary news stories about caregivers "caught on tape" physically and verbally abusing children to feel safe about having them cared for here.

The Boston Nanny case just underlines this, but *not* because she was convicted. More so because no one really knows what happened. There is conflicting physical evidence, and it always comes down to their word against yours. I much prefer knowing that there will be lots of caring eyes on my children, not just a limited few.

Yes, we give up certain things, but in the long-run, my children are faring much better because their parents feel safer having them in a corporate, nation-wide day care center."

NannyWatch
As a parent who ran a daycare out of my home for the last 8 years, I have mixed feelings about this. But, for parents who have a nanny come to their home, I suppose this might be an option for you. These are video cameras that are hidden in your home to observe your nanny's interaction with your children. From what I have read, NannyWatch is back-logged by a month or more after the Louise Woodward trial. And, some 70 percent of parents who use this service subsequently fire their daycare providers, mostly for neglect, not abuse.

Working From Your Home
I realize this is not an option for everyone. But with computers and the Internet, this might be more of an option than we all realize. It may be possible to stay at home with your kids more often than you thought, thanks to your computer. Here are some links on the Internet that might help.

• Home Based Working Moms
  This site is full of information. Avoid scams, find the best home-based businesses, etc.
• Home Income Producing Parents
  More great information for parents who want to work from home.

This case has probably upset all parents. It brings up sensitive issues, that many of really don't want to face. But, it is important to face these issues, and to decide what is best for our children. Please see my previous article, about how parents can prevent this tragedy from happening to them.