Knowing how the economy is changing....... How fair are parents who choose overtime/long hours over quality time with...

As far as I have been able to tell in 20 years of work experience, you don't choose overtime, life has this crazy way of choosing it for you. Now don't get me wrong, I think everyone has a right to choose the lifestyle they want to live and if they are making the money to maintain it, hurray for them. But what I see more often than not are people who established a certain pattern of living and when their income no longer kept up, they had to start working more hours just to keep what they have. For many others, it's just a matter of basic survival. Hungry kids are a real incentive to work overtime. So are eviction notices and the repo man. So before I start judging why anyone is working long hours, I would think long and hard about where that person's world may be at the time.

That said, let it be known that those same parents are missing some of the best things about having kids by working all of those hours. It's one thing to work those hours so you can afford to take the kids to the movies (which itself is no longer a cheap date) when you could take that same money, rent a movie and spend some time with them. As a mom of 4, I understand how hard it is to make the decision between quality time with the family and putting food on the table. I finally realized that the amount of time I spend with my family is limited but the amount of time I can work in this life is not. I will be working for another 25 or 30 years but my babies won't even want to be seen in public with me in about 4 so I have sacrificed a lot of luxuries (and even some basics) so that I don't miss so much and don't regret a minute of it. And my kids might complain they don't have the latest everything, but the minute I threaten to go back to work full-time they break out in protest. Down to the youngest, they like having a mom to come home to every day, and so I do my own hair, and manicures and don't buy shoes but my heart is full and my family is happy. Sometimes, that really can be enough.

I think the real questions should be: What kind of society have we created where we put parents, and people in general, in a position where they feel they are missing out just because they don't have the new IPhone or some 3 figure job? When did being a good person stop being worth something?