own mothers?" (Burton, Ditmer, and Loveless).The conclusion that the husband and wife come to can be truly successful if it the decision is given a lot of thought and prayer and is done according to what Jesus would do. The decision to work or not to work must be considered carefully by both the husband and the wife. In order for a family to successfully make the transition to caring for children at home and living on less income, both spouses must share a commitment to the lifestyle (Kovatch 2). If the spouses differ in their expectations of what it means to be a stay-at-home parent, it will surely cause a great deal of conflict. The patterns for work and leisure time that have been established by a couple without children will not likely work after a baby is born. It is very crucial that couples discuss their expectations for how much child-care, housework will be done, and who will do it (Kovatch 1). When couples decide that the mother should stay home with the children while they are young, it is natural for her to do most of the housework, because she is home all day anyway. The husband may help with some of the work, but the wife will probably take care of most of it. Then when she does go to work, he might resist having to start doing things he has never done before. He might feel that she is gaining an exciting new job and he is losing his leisurely evenings (Davidson 97). It is necessary that couples maintain an open dialogue about issues of caring for the children and the home. Marriage partners bring separate agendas and backgrounds into the marriage. Therefore, many sources of the dispute can be present when life decisions are being made.When the decision is made for the mother to stay at home with her children, it is important to realize that the stay-at-home parent and the employed parent will be living different lives with different advantages and disadvantages. This may lead to resentment and jealousy of th...
