John Rosemond on Day Care vs. Parent Care

A working mother is generally viewed as more "liberated" than a mother who opts to provide home care for her children. As a result, a significant number of people will view my remarks as downright regressive, tantamount to suggesting that "a woman's place is in the home." I will, no doubt, be accused of being criminally unenlightened.

The fact is, I am as much for women achieving self-fulfillment as I am for men. I believe that the best parents are, in fact, self-fulfilled. True self-fulfillment, however, is a mature quality. It is not reckless, impulsive, or driven by self-centeredness. A truly self-fulfilled individual does not disregard the needs of others or do things at anyone else's expense. Self-fulfillment, in other words, is not equivalent to self-gratification. In fact, a defining feature of maturity is the ability to postpone self-gratification. If, therefore, in order to provide at-home care for a young child, a parent or parents must postpone self-gratification, then so be it. More than anything else, children need parents who are able to make mature, responsible decisions.

--John Rosemond, Making the "Terrible" Twos Terrific!, p. 162