Didn't realize that people who think that it might be beneficial for a child for a parent to stay home with them are vermin who crawl out of the woodwork.

I was a stay at home mom until my ex injured himself and couldn't work for years. My children were already in school when I went back to work. My children did not suffer in any way from not going to day care and were as well adjusted and intelligent as their counterparts that did go to daycare. They had friends in the neighborhood who were not in day care and had social interaction with others. We spent time doing things with our children, playing games, reading to them, taking them places and teaching them the things that they needed to learn to start kindergarten. We were involved in activities where our children would have interaction with other kids while we interacted with other adults. If our houses weren't immaculate, so be it. Most of the time our major housework would get done when the kids would all get together to play at one or the others house, when they were napping or when our husbands got home and spent time with the kids. We never got into soap operas or talk shows, getting drunk or talking on the phone all day. My girls had paper routes (you seem to think there is something wrong with that from your comment) not to get them out of our hair but to teach them how to be responsible and how to handle money. They were totally responsible for their routes during the week but on the weekends my ex and I would get up early with them and help them. The time that I spent with my children was challenging, stimulating and in my opinion intellectually rewarding. I taught them the things that they needed to learn to be responsible productive adults. Now they are both in their 20's and they are productive hard working adults that I am very proud of. My one daughter doesn't want children and that is her choice, my other daughter does want children but does not think that she will want to be a stay at home mom and that is her choice. I chose to be a stay at home mom and I don't regret one single minute of the time that I spent with my children.

So really, how much of that time in the evenings and on the weekends does the career parent actually spend with the kids? Don't they have to come home and do the same chores that the stay at home mom does during the day, even if they are shared by both partners? Don't they ever need to wind down after a long grueling day (week) at work?