[MMM]

Originally Posted by RobinMask

I don't understand why you're against parents leaving their child with another perosn whilst they work. If we assume that the parents are leaving their child with a loving nurturing adult, one who will attend the childs needs and not neglect or abuse them, then the parents return later on in the day/night to spend considerable/quality time with the child, then what would be the problem?

Simply put, because they aren't the parents. Every situation is different, so if you can find someone who "loves" the child and "nurtures" the child, then that is a positive, but do the math. If a child is awake 14 hours a day, and 9 of those hours are in child care that means only five waking hours are with the parents. That's just over 1/3 of the child's day. Again, do I want my child to learn my values, or his babysitters?

I have friend who was raised like this. His father is a doctor and his mother worked full time at the father's office. She didn't NEED to, but she wanted to. He was raised by a nanny, essentially who happened to be from South America. She only spoke to him in Spanish, and his Spanish is still pretty good. That's an easy-to-see example of how the person who raises you can influence you. What about the ones that aren't as easy to see?

Originally Posted by RobinMask

The child knows who it's parents are, it loves them, and those few hours apart don't serve as a problem. If anything it teaches the child to socialise and interact with people other than its parents, and it gives it a wider world view and teaches it respect of other adults. Why would it be deteremental to a child?

There are some assumptions being made there. My example from above does not have a close relationship with his parents. I am not going to say he doesn't love them, but he doesn't make an effort to spend any more time with them than he has to.

Yes, interacting with other people is a positive. Why are we assuming that a stay-at-home parent would not interact with other people. In the US we have "play groups" where (mostly) moms take their children to socialize and play with other children their age. Raising a child is not prison. You do get to go outside.

What is detrimental is that I have a vested interested in making sure my child learns how to socialize properly and not be a bully, for example. Do you think the babysitter cares if my child is sticking up gas stations in 20 years?

Originally Posted by RobinMask

Also - just because it's been annoying me, lol - I have to ask you. . . you keep saying men and women are different. I get that, biologically and psychologically we are, and children can relate differently to each parent depending on gender/age etc. When it comes to parenting though what do you think the difference should be (or is) between the father and the mother? And if there is a difference - aside from cultural and sociological expectations - why should there be a difference?

I cannot say what should the differences be, but that in this modern political world there is a moving that everyone is the same and equal, and that is really going against millions of years of nature and evolution. A man will never have a baby, no matter what happens. Even in nature animal parents fill different roles. Humans are the same, whether we like it or not.

Originally Posted by RobinMask

I would also ask where is your evidence it's better to have a two-person family. I could give anecdotal evidence why single-parent families or same-sex parents can be better in the long-run for a child, but I would like to see objective/scientific evidence that different-sexed two-parent families are better, if that is what the claim is.

I am not going to get into gay parents and child raising, as that is a whole new topic on its own. And surely there are many success stories from children of single-parents. (The American president is one.)

Evidence of the benefits of two-parent homes over single-parent homes is not hard to find. I cannot vouch for any of these sites, it was just the first things that came up on a search.

Experiments in Living: The Fatherless Family

Single-parent - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Facts About Single Parenting vs Dual Parenting Households

Single-Parent Homes - The Effect on Schooling - NYTimes.com

Single Parent Vs Two Parents

Is a two Parent home More better than a one parent home? Why or why not? - Yahoo! Answers