Working mothers this week took another blow with the release of data from the largest and longest-running study of American childcare. Reported throughout the mainstream media from The New York Times, to NPR, and the Today Show, the study found that "keeping a preschooler in a day care center for a year or more increased the likelihood that child would become disruptive in class through the sixth grade."

The study went on to report the effect was slight and well within normal range for healthy children.

So here's my beef with this and every other study that is publicized in the media. How do these researchers come to their conclusion? What do we NOT know about these preschoolers who spent more than a year in a day care center? Were their parents spending quality time with them outside of day care? What kind of care were they receiving once they were enrolled in school? What kind of school environment were they in? What was their behavior like before preschool? Are we to infer they were angelic toddlers who sat quietly and ate all of their peas, slept through the night, and potty-trained themselves before they entered the dreaded day care center?

I'm certainly no expert on this subject (as we all know). I have studied only one preschooler and this is what my totally unscientific study reveals:

In a Manic Mommies study of one preschooler who never spent a day of his life in a day care center, researchers found that this preschooler was likely to interrupt in class (see earlier post "He is Me" for scientific documentation of this subject). The effect was slight to constant, however, is believed to be well within normal range for a healthy almost five-year-old.

Why is it that working moms continue to bear the brunt of these studies? Dads don't seem to care. I put this study in front of my husband yesterday and to my surprise he had neither a) heard about it or b) cared to learn more. Are we moms doing ourselves harm by investing too much time and mental energy worrying about countless studies that contradict themselves?

I appreciate that this was the largest study of its kind and the researchers were just reporting their findings. And I recognize all too well that day care is a serious—and consuming—issue for working parents. There's hardly a working mom in my network who hasn't shared her story of the day care arrangement that didn't quite "work out."

Obviously this is a broader societal issue that, once again, working moms are left to struggle with. Without the benefit of complete information or practical solutions, what's a mom to do?

Feel guilty, I guess. Now where's the study on the effects of that?