Editor, The News:

This is in response to … letter, "Mothers are abandoning their kids" ..

I read Mr. … comments and was amazed at the rhetoric that he spouted. To somehow connect high housing prices to women working outside the home is ludicrous.

And then to compare childcare in Canada with the warehousing of children in Siberia is insane.

Childcare in Canada is based on early childhood education and is administered by care, love, and understanding. To even say that it is substandard or endangering our children is doing a disservice and is libelous to the men and women who believe in the care they provide.

Mothers do not abandon their children to venture out in the workforce to buy expensive homes, clothing, and vacations. They do so to provide for their children, and, in some cases, they are the only working parent.

Love and guidance are provided to our children in many ways.

It is the quality of a parent's love, guidance and living their lives by example that bring up responsible, caring adults.

A parent can sometimes be one person, or many.

It's the quality, not the quantity, that makes the difference.

Irresponsible parents are those who do not interact with their children, do not take an interest in their lives, their school, and their friends.

This can happen with both parents staying at home. Time is relevant, but it is how it is used that is more important.

In some countries/cultures it is true women are not allowed to work outside the home. The reasons are often based on religious beliefs.

These women not only can't work, but in some countries are not permitted to use a telephone, get medical care or obtain an education.

For these women, life is a prison; for some it is a life of extreme poverty, starvation, and, ultimately, an early death.

What does that teach children?

Does it make them more compassionate, more responsible?

I work, not because I want a big house, a new car or expensive vacations. I do so to feed and clothe my children and put a roof over their heads.

My children look at me as someone who is both a good mother and a good employee.

When I am with my children I give them my attention, I listen to their day and we talk.

We eat our meals together, and we enjoy our time together not spending money at the mall, but by taking walks and watching my children play.

They also spend quality time with their father and are given the same love and attention. Without my job, my children would be watching me collect welfare and live a life of poverty.

My children are well-adjusted and caring. They are well-liked by their teachers, friends and peers. They are respectful and good kids. They are not irresponsible children desperately hungry for love and attention.

The house prices and irresponsible children are not the product of mothers who work.

Housing prices are dictated by economics - you know, supply and demand - and driven by a large number of reasons that are not in any way connected to women.

As for irresponsible loveless children, they are products of bad parenting, poverty, and/or circumstances, not by the number of hours their mother was in the home with them.

To even state this, is irresponsible and mean-spirited without any facts or basic reasoning to back up your claim.