We are unique,
I have heard that the last thing a woman stops spending money on is clothes and cosmetics for herself. They will cut back on spending money on clothes for their children before they cut back on spending money on themselves. In fact, major store chains have been known to increase sales of women's clothes during a recession, and they generally don't reduce their orders of women's clothes during a recession, when they reduce their orders of everything else.

Some other little facts, about 25% of women don't have children, and about 25% only have one.

Of those that have children, the majority do not breast feed at all, or for more than a few months.

The greatest amount of child poverty and child neglect occurs in a single parent family with the mother as the parent.

One of the greatest hidden problems facing aborigional communities is mothers drinking and smoking when pregnant (close to 100% of pregnant women in some communities)

But none of this should be mentioned, because mothers are such wonderfull people, although oppressed by men of course.

Vanna no parent will ever get it 'right' ie never a 'perfect parent'. My childrens necessities and luxuries have always been provided prior to mine. My husband of 20 years all his things came before mine. The interesting point is that all of my girlfriends over 20 years as mothers have all done the very same thing. Placed their childrens needs AND luxuries before theirs.

Guess its best not to generalise about mothers.

Best wishes Vanna.

Having said that..as Pelican stated a few weeks or months ago in another thread, the greatest thing [along those lines] to give your children is LOVE and show your LOVE, in which I have tried hard to demonstrate to my children that I LOVE them, more than any words can ever describe. No presents on Mothers Day for me as having them safe, healthy and happy is the GREATEST gift in my life.

We are unique,
Safety is important, and by far the highest rates of injuries to children occur in the home.

Right now, looking at the bigger picture, and considering the overall statistics, motherhood in Australia is in the worst state it has ever been in, and women are becoming increasingly hopeless.

Vanna, are you trying to start a fight with the women on this thread?

Sorry mate but we have our hands full with battling other women-haters on this forum, like (Anti)septic, formerneversnag and Proxy(Herman).

I just can't be bothered with you.

Suze

Vanna's just another with uterus envy:

>>

Birth of a Bond:

Illustrating a Year of Mother and Baby Development
From embryo to infancy, biologically accurate illustrations from theVisualMD.com illuminate changes in mother and baby as the two grow and develop together

By Katherine Harmon

Genetically, children are a blend of code from both of their parents. But for the first nine months of development, a fetus gets just about everything else from its mother. The two individuals' systems are so intertwined that even after birth, material from a fetus can linger in the mother's body for decades.

The process means major changes for both mother and child. Beginning about three months into pregnancy, the growing fetus and enlarging uterus become visible as a small belly bump. At the end of the second trimester, a woman's uterus has usually reached the size of a papaya to accommodate a 23-centimeter-long fetus, and by the time of a full-term delivery, the uterus will have expanded to about the size of a watermelon, shifting other internal parts around to make room.

In addition to sheer growth, the developing organs and features of the fetus require extra input from the mother's body. In the second two trimesters of pregnancy, women often need an extra 300 calories a day and a range of nutrients to support healthy growth of a fetus—and even more after delivery if the child is being breastfed.

After birth, certain biochemical compounds are at work in both mother and child to sustain and accentuate the bond between the two. Hormones, such as oxytocin, surge in mothers after labor and during breast-feeding, promoting social and emotional bonding with the infant. And in babies, just being touched spurs the release of the same compound, helping them, in turn, bond with their moms and other care takers.

This intensive and intimate journey has been illustrated by the Visual MD, revealing the changes that both mother and child go through during their first year together. <<

http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=illustration-pregnancy-bond