Ethnography Paper...

After reading opting out, I became really interested in this trend that working women are taking on. Since I grew up in a household where both my parents worked, that's all I ever knew. I don't think I was negatively affected by the lack of parental presence when I was younger, but I sometimes wonder if parents, especially the mother feels like they are harming their child by not being present for every aspect of their maturing. Along with this I was wondering about people who have the option to opt-out and why they decide to, although this may seem harsh, choose to keep their career in lue of making their children the number one priority. I feel that when I get older, I too will want to try and balance a career and have children. I know that it will become hard, but as of right now, I can't let my children take away my since of independence.

Methodology: While thinking about these topics I decided to follow the life of a typical working mother, trying to balance time with her family and contributing to the success of her family financially. My question: Do you think that working could cause a negative affect on your children? and if you had the option or do have the option to opt out, why haven't you? I followed around Annette Powell, a full time worker and mother of 3. Her hours at the aiport call her to work at a minimum of 4 days a week with hours ranging from 6am-2pm or 1pm-10pm.

Interview...

Q: Do you feel like you have missed any significant part in your child's life? if so what?
A: I do sometimes because my job does interfere with events at school. My job does not give me the ability to just take off whenever I want to.

Q: I see that you leave early every morning, do you feel that this morning time not spent with your child could be a negative?
A: Sometimes the father has to take the place of taking the child to school and getting them ready and It's just a part of teamwork. it's good because it shows the child to rely just as much on the father as the mother, rather than just one primarily.

Q: Do you have the option to opt out?
A: No, because with three children and the expense and the cost it takes to raise them, to cloth them, to feed them, that it is to the children's benefit to have two parents working. It's attainable because both the mother and father are fully engaged.

Q: Why do you enjoy working, instead of staying at home?
A: I enjoy working because I feel like my husband can take up the slack when I'm not there. This shows the children that nowadays the mother is not the only care taker and she has the ability to be successful on her own. When she's happy with her accomplishments it can be a role model for the children because they realize they can accomplish the same thing.

Q: Was this your plan to do so your whole life?
A: I always thought that I would stay at home when the children were little but with the kind of job my husband had, it made it possible to be able to work and have a family life.

Q: What do you think this is teaching your children?
A: I just teaches them the value of parenting as a team and taking equal responsibility with raising the children. It is attainable.

Q:With the economy as it is, are you seeing the rewards to deciding to stay with your job?
A: Considering we are in a recession, In my opinion it does take two incomes. We can't afford to take any chances with the way the economy is. If one of us were to lose our job, we would have a back up plan.

Notes...

As mentioned above I followed her throughout her day. She woke up at 4 a.m. to get ready for work and since her commute to the airport is 30 minutes away she left by 5:15. This was way before any of her children had awoken. They are all elementary aged children so they had school that day. She explained to me that it was her husband who helped get them ready, fed, and off to school in time. After work if was her duty to pick the children up from school and then take them to their various activities. Throughout the time, I noticed that her absence was in fact not a burden to the children. Although she expressed it could be hard some mornings for her to miss getting them ready, she does in fact spend a lot of time in the afternoons with them. This sharing of powers gave the children a chance to look at each parent as equal and to get to spend a separate time with each parent. After viewing I now feel that I too can, when the time is right, balance a family and a job. Although opting out could have been an option, in trying times like these, each parent will see the benefits in caring for their children equally when it comes to working.