There is a raging debate going on over at the MamaMia blog - Mia Freedman’s creative endeavour.  (Mia is ex Cosmo Editor and author of the book MamaMia: A memoir of mistakes, magazines and motherhood)

Alexandra Shulman, editor of Vogue UK, wrote a piece in the UK Daily Mail about whether mums who demand part-time work, flexible working hours, job share etc etc- are just being too demanding.

Amongst her many comments are:

“Nowadays, the majority of pregnant women I know take close to a year off, during which they are entitled to statutory maternity pay for up to 39 weeks. They return with the expectation and right to have their old job back after 52 weeks. Except that, when they do return, many of them don’t want exactly their old job back. They want the same role but moulded into a time frame that suits family life better. They want to investigate four-day weeks, flexitime, jobshares, and they often then have another baby and are entitled to take another year off. But is this realistic?”

“I have never worked a shorter week, partially because I want the full salary to pay for the private education of my son, the help and the house we live in. But it is also because I don’t, at root, think it would be the correct way to do this job.”

“Women have increasingly broken through that old glass ceiling with determination and, to be honest, helpful employment legislation. As a result, many are now employers themselves. Let’s not put that progress back by creating a world where the next generation of women workers becomes too inconvenient and awkward to employ and find themselves legislated back into the home.”

What’s particularly interesting is that this article has fuelled a vibrant debate over on the MamaMia site about Stay at Home Mums versus so-called Working Mums (even though we are all working).

But to my mind, that’s not really the issue.

Firstly, re. mums

Happy mum, happy kids is not just a nice saying. It is backed up by hard evidence. The research clearly shows that whether a mum works or not does not significantly impact on kids’ outcomes. What matters most is whether you LOVE your child. That’s what’s important.

So let’s end this debate about whether mums should or shouldn’t be home with their children. The answer is: It depends! We must allow people to make choices that are best for themselves and their children - without finger pointing, ridicule or disdain.

What is more relevant to Shulman’s article is workplace culture and management practice.

What Shulman’s article really highlights is that yes, it can be difficult to manage people who don’t work full time. The world of work and management practice has been built on judging people’s work ethic based on their time spent at work. Much more difficult is managing people’s work ethic based on the quality and quantity of the work they produce.

Shulman has identified the problem - but she’s come to the wrong conclusion. Just because it is difficult, and it takes a mindshift does not mean women should not work at all, or that they should only work on traditional terms. The best workplaces are changing so they can attract the best. And in many instances the best are women with kids. Employees do need to have realistic expecations.  But organisations need to change, and managers need to get better at managing.

This poem by Diane Loomans is on the wall at my son’s kindergarten.

And it struck me as articulating quite eloquently the paradoxes of parenting.

When we’re in the thick of it, we often don’t appreciate it enough.  And when we’re past it, we lament the parent we could have been.

If I had my child to raise all over again,
I’d build self esteem first, and the house later.
I’d fingerpaint more, and point the finger less.
I would do less correcting and more connecting.
I’d take my eyes off my watch, and watch with my eyes.
I would care to know less and know to care more.
I’d take more hikes and fly more kites.
I’d stop playing serious, and seriously play.
I would run through more fields and gaze at more stars.
I’d do more hugging and less tugging.
I’d see the oak tree in the acorn more often.
I would be firm less often, and affirm much more.
I’d model less about the love of power,
And more about the power of love.

It would be nice to “stop playing serious, and seriously play.”

But perhaps more realistic for me is to gaze at more stars.

Half Full - Science for Raising Happy Kids wrote recently about the vexed question of whether you should stay in an unhappy relationship for the sake of your kids.

As a society, we tend to believe that parents are better off if parents stay together.  That is certainly what previous generations did.

But research clearly shows that:

“It is the quality of parents’ relationships with each other, rather than whether they are married or single, that matters most for kids’ well-being.”

This highlights how a parent’s emotional wellbeing affects their kid’s wellbeing.

We all experience challenging emotions.  What’s important is how we deal with them - and how our children see that we deal with them.

Parents in conflict who have difficulty controlling their aggression or anger are most likely to be doing a disservice to their children.

Phil and Carolyn Cowan from UC Berkeley found that unresolved conflict and unhappiness in a parent’s relationship can lead to children with more aggressive behavior, more shy and withdrawn behavior, and worse social and academic skills.

Separating may therefore be the best option.

But continuing to show aggression and anger to your partner even once separated - won’t help your children either.

Parents who can find a way to respect their children’s other parent - even if they no longer love or respect the person - are doing the best by their kids.

Because whether you separate or not - unless you completely cut yourself off from your kids - you will need to communicate with your ex-partner.  And you want the relationship to be as civil and adult as possible.

I’m always saddened when people who have invested a lot of energy and emotion into a relationship separate without first trying to get some form of outside help.

Counselling may lead you back together - and in a happier place.

Or it may lead you apart - but with a resolve to work together for the good of the kids.

Either option seems better than living in an unhappy and acrimonious relationship.   Better both for you and your children.

According to a new study by The Australia Institute, Australians, particularly white collar professionals, are donating a hell of a lot of free time to their employers in the form of unpaid overtime.

Here’s what they say:

Each year, Australians work more than 2 billion hours of unpaid overtime.

Around half of all employees work more hours than they are paid for.

On average, a typical employee works 49 minutes of unpaid overtime per day.

For full-time workers, the average daily amount of unpaid work is 70 minutes, which equates to 33 eight-hour days per year, or six and a half standard working weeks.

Put another way, this is the equivalent of ‘donating’ more than your annual leave entitlement back to your employer.

Overwork can have negative consequences for your physical and mental health, your relationships with loved ones and your sense of what is important in life.

Yes indeed.

So the Australia Insitute has launched a Go Home On Time Day - next Wednesday the 25th of November.

Visit the website Go Home on Time Day and send yourself or a friends and family, a leave pass.

Then next Wednesday - Go home on time!

Question is, what are you going to do with yourself???