Honey, will you please fold the laundry? I have a survey to do!

In preparation for my research paper, I conducted a survey to 50 stay at home moms. I conducted my survey over Facebook to my many stay at home mom ‘friends’ near and far. Facebook was a great way to get a quick response to my friends living as far away as Texas. In my survey, I asked these mothers 5 questions. I chose questions that I will be able to incorporate into my research paper. The questions I chose to ask were :
1. Have there been times when you wish you would have chosen a career over staying home with your kids?
2.What has been the best/worst part about being a stay at home mom?
3. With the way the economy is, if you were handed your dream job today would you take it?
4. What advantages do your children have versus the children of a busy career woman?
5. Is the time spent and memories made with your children worth the money you would make with a full time job?
To answer the first question, 30/50 Moms said they have never wished they would have chosen a career over being a stay at home mom. Some replied, “ Being a stay at home mom IS a full time job!” One Mom had the opportunity to work in the professional world before entering Mom-hood. She said that having a full job before children, made her better prepared to be a mother.
Most of the mothers I surveyed agreed that the best part of being a stay at home mom was the relationships they are able to build with their children and being able to be involved with everything they do, one said, “living in the present.” They also agreed that the worst part would be their lack of adult interaction and conversation.
Over half of the fifty surveyed would not accept their dream job, if it was offered to them. They feel that being a stay at home mom is their dream job. The few that wouldn’t reject their dream job would only accept it because their children are grown, and they had nothing else to do.
Most Mom’s answered question #4 about the same. Their children have their mother’s love, time, attention, and they develop good qualities that children of a busy businesswoman probably would not posses.
Every Stay at home Mom I interviewed answered the last question with an undoubtedly yes. One Mom said it best when she stated, “ I am not sure how to answer that. I don’t think memories have a monetary value. I think being a stay at home mom is a financial sacrifice for every family -but personally- for my family- it has been worth it." - Joana Alvarado 

                                                                   
I am excited to use this survey in my research paper. It will be fun to use my own information instead of borrowing someone else’s information for a change. It wasn’t easy to find all the information, but I know it will be very useful in the end!

Work or Children???

I am going to be writing a paper on ‘Stay at Home Moms’ in the next few weeks. So to get me prepared for this paper, I had the opportunity to interview a real stay at home mom! Kim Hafen lives in Washington, Utah where she is the mother to 6 kids. Kim has been a mother for 26 years, and she says there has never been a time where she wished she had chosen a career over being a stay at home mom. “My children would be different people if they had a nanny or went to a day care rather than came home to me,” Kim said.

                                                                         
According to this stay at home mom, the best part about their job is not missing all of their ‘firsts’ and having that close relationship with your kids. The worst part about being a stay at home mom is that your job is never done- It is a full time position with no vacation time. When I asked Kim if she could have her dream job handed to her, or continue to support her children, she said that she would continue to support her kids. She said,” The joy and memories I share with my kids outweigh the benefits and pay I would have with a career.”

                                                                    
If she had a chance to redo anything in raising her kids, she wished she would have spent even more time with them. Kim’s favorite part about being a stay at home mom that a career woman wouldn’t have the opportunity of having is being able to put her children first. Most career oriented woman put their work before their kids, and Kim’s family comes first. Kim says,” Her kids have benefitted from her being at home by their higher self esteem and confidence, and by them knowing that they are important to me.”
I would like to thank Kim Hafen for her time in letting me interview her. Kim is a great Mom, friend, and person who I look up to very much. I will be able to use this information in my research paper in the next few weeks. Thank You Kim!

Long Live Rodeo

Imagine going to a PRCA rodeo. You are sitting in the bleachers waiting for the rodeo to start. It’s about five minutes away from starting, and you have not seen one horse line up for the grand entry. Being a rodeo fan, you are confused and start to wonder if the rodeo had started a few hours earlier. You notice a banner hanging up in the arena that says ’PETA HAS BEEN HERE.’  If PETA had their way, there would be no rodeo. There would be many jobless professional cowboys and cowgirls, and many more upset rodeo fans. PETA has been hassling the PRCA for years, with no such proof of animal cruelty being evident; why not give it up already? If things went according to PETA, we would all be vegetarians. The number of animals would overpopulate humans, and animals would be equal to, if not superior to humans.

                                                                

            PETA believes that in events such as barrel racing, steer roping, team roping, steer wrestling, bull riding, bareback, and saddle bronc that normally docile animals are physically provoked into displaying ‘wild’ behavior in order to make the cowboys look brave. PETA claims that PRCA abuses their livestock, but we don’t need to hear anymore from them. Anyone familiar with PRCA rodeo would know that the livestock used in rodeos does not belong to the PRCA. The animals used in PRCA rodeos are leased from professional livestock contractors. A contract is signed between the two parties covering everything from injury of the animal to cowboys harming the animal in any way.

             The PRCA has a set of very strict rules about cowboys altering the animal in any way to better their score. Along with strict rules, a hefty list of fines are incorporated with broken contracts between the contractor and PRCA, and between PRCA and the Professional cowboy competing. Besides Strict rules, and heavy fines, the PRCA has an animal welfare program for the livestock used in program. For cowboys to compete at the highest level, the rodeo livestock must be in peak condition. Cowboys share the spotlight with the livestock. They work together to make good runs, and high scores.

                                                                           

            PETA claims that the flank strap is too tightly cinched around the animal’s abdomen which causes them to buck, trying to escape the pain. They also believe that the flank strap can cause open wounds and burns when the hair is rubbed off and their skin is chafed raw. They claim to have found burrs and other types of irritants placed under the flank strap. Do you think PETA has read the PRCA Animal Welfare Rules? Rule # 9.3 states “No sharp objects in cinch, saddle, girth or flank straps. No sharp or cutting objects in cinch, saddle girth, or flank straps shall be permitted. Flank straps used for horses must either be sheepskin-lined or neoprene-lined and shall be of the quick release type. Sheepskin-lined or Neoprene line flank straps shall be placed on the animal so the lined portion is over both flanks of the animal. In the bull riding, a soft cotton rope at least 5/8” in diameter is acceptable as a flank strap and does not require the sheepskin or neoprene lining.” I would love to hear where PETA found these irritants placed in a flank strap. Do they openly share where they were found, because I have yet to hear.

                                                                                     

            PETA says that electric prods and spurs are used to irritate and enrage animals. PRCA rule # 9.2 states, “No locked rowels. Rowels that will be locked on spurs may be used on bareback or saddle bronc horses. Spurs must be dulled.” Rule # 10.6.4 states.” No sharp spurs. Riders shall not use sharp spurs. Rule # 10.1.5 states, “Prods. In the riding events, use of prods and similar devices is prohibited. The only exceptions shall be in the saddle bronc riding and bareback riding, and only in the case of a known chute stalling animals. And only if agrees upon by the contestant, the stock contractor, and the judge before the contestants competition begins. In this instance, the prod shall not exceed 12 inches in length. Use of a prod without the agreement of the contestant, stock contractor, and the judge before the contestant’s competition begins in the saddle bronc, and the bareback riding, or use of a prod in the bull riding at any time shall result in a fine of $1,000 doubling with each violation to the stock contractor and the contestant will receive the automatic option of a reride. Do you think PETA has ever been behind the scenes of a rodeo, and paid much attention to what lengths the cowboys go to, to ensure that the animals are healthy and comfortable?

                                                                                    

            Being a rodeo fan, you already know what a pretty penny these animals cost. A decent bucking horse can cost more than $25,000, while some bulls sell for more than $100,000. These animals are not only expensive, and require lots of upkeep, but they were bred to buck. Most of their cost comes from their breeding. PRCA stock contractor Skip Beeler explains the “making” of a bucking animal. “You can teach them to handle, load in the truck, stand in the chutes so they don’t hurt themselves, but nobody can train a horse or bull to buck. They’ve got to have it in them! I’d say it’s about 75 percent breeding, 10 percent luck, and 15 percent hard work to teach them the skills they need so you can handle them. A lot of hard work and dedication goes into breeding and caring for the valuable livestock that is a part of today’s sport of rodeo. Now knowing this, why would the PRCA let any harm come to these expensive, professional athletes they are borrowing for rodeos?

            An aspect never discussed in any dispute of PRCA and PETA, is PETA going and interacting with the PRCA at a rodeo besides picketing. I call upon all you PETA members to come to a rodeo. Don’t come and watch, but come sit on the bucking shoots. Watch the cowboys treat the animals as an equal. Watch how the animals are cared for, and treated. You won’t see any sick, lame, or injured animals on site. Count how many veterinarians are hired to come check the animals. I am willing to bet after doing so that PETA members will have a change of heart. They will come to the understanding that there is no group other than the PRCA with such high animal welfare standards.