Ladies, how do you feel about being a stay at home mom/wife?

As a mom of 4 - 3 now over 18 - I highly recommend raising your own children if its at all possible. Who would love them most in all the world? You & your hubby. If there is ever a question - watch other families in both situations. I love my kids & was blessed to be with them most of their lives.

This is where the mommy wars start. Please don't refer to having child care as someone else raising your children.

Growing up, my mother was a working mom and I do recall feeling elated when she took days off work, because I'd come home from school to a warm toasty house, and she'd have all the time to help with homework etc. So, a part of me wants to be a stay-at-home mom but I also want to make something of myself, career-wise, that is. I have a degree and other certificates and want to put those to good use.

I am a SAHM. It was never planned but ended up this way. I'm a registered nurse who graduated top of my class. Spent 6 yrs in the Air Force as a linguist. Felt like a bum for the first 3 yrs that I stayed home (2 kids now 3 & 5). So I took a nursing job at the VA. It sucked. It was full time because part time nursing gigs don't exist for" new grads". I wanted part time. I applied for 40 jobs. 1 call, 1 interview and I got the job. I lasted 3 months. I was working over 40 hrs, missed my baby's first stage performance and I was working a mux of both day shift and night shift so I was getting headaches and was pissed off all the time from lack of proper sleep. Plus I was working at the one in Baltimore City so the people/atmosphere/general tone were leaving something to be desired. On top of all that gripey stuff, daycare in MD was running us $2150 a month. Yes you read it right. It was a second mortgage. We switched to a montessori which was still $1750. I was bringing home $700 a month "profit". I guess if you think working a 14 hr nightshift doing backbreaking work while missing important events like family gatherings and kids performances is "worth it" then great. I felt differently. My husband has a great job and we are frugal. Being a good mother to your children IS contributing to society. My daughter could read at 4. She is 1 of 2 children in her (oversized) Kindergarten class who are in advanced reading. They gave her a standardized test and she scored ridiculously high compared to the average. Because she wasn't sitting in some overpriced, mind-numbing daycare. I like to think the personalized attention she got being home with me or at her part time preschools is what has helped her get a head start academically. Once I resigned from the 3 month stint as poop/drug slave at the VA, I was way past feeling like a bum. Well over feeling like I wasn't "contributing". You can't put a price on self worth. It's important to raise your kids how you want to. I'm lucky in that we can afford it. A part time job would be the best of both worlds but decent psrttimers are hard to find. I babysit on the weekends and some evenings.

I enjoy working outside the home and having a career, but I also spend a good amount of time on my family and home life. Whatever works for you and your family is what you should do.

One thing I wanted to touch on, because I've seen this several times in the comments - being a SAHM doesn't mean that you've given up your entire life to become a submissive little woman and that you're totally satisfied with that. Taking time out of the workforce doesn't mean that you are not going to have a successful career. Staying at home doesn't mean you just cook, clean, and change diapers and are completely fulfilled as a person. Being a SAHM doesn't define a person any more than being a doctor, lawyer, receptionist, mechanic, teacher, programmer, etc, defines them.

I honestly don't know a single SAHM who doesn't have a bunch of other things going on for their personal growth in addition to taking care of the home, hauling the kids to playgroups and enrichment activities, and working one-on-one with their kids. The SAHMs I know volunteer, are working on degrees or certifications, sit on city/community boards, participate in local groups offering their expertise and experience on topics, are involved in politics, learn languages, coordinate and manage everything from mom's groups to charity events… the list goes on and on. It's not June Cleaver wearing pearls and waiting by the door with a drink in hand for her husband anymore.

One thing I wanted to touch on, because I've seen this several times in the comments - being a SAHM doesn't mean that you've given up your entire life to become a submissive little woman and that you're totally satisfied with that. Taking time out of the workforce doesn't mean that you are not going to have a successful career. Staying at home doesn't mean you just cook, clean, and change diapers and are completely fulfilled as a person. Being a SAHM doesn't define a person any more than being a doctor, lawyer, receptionist, mechanic, teacher, programmer, etc, defines them.

I honestly don't know a single SAHM who doesn't have a bunch of other things going on for their personal growth in addition to taking care of the home, hauling the kids to playgroups and enrichment activities, and working one-on-one with their kids. The SAHMs I know volunteer, are working on degrees or certifications, sit on city/community boards, participate in local groups offering their expertise and experience on topics, are involved in politics, learn languages, coordinate and manage everything from mom's groups to charity events… the list goes on and on. It's not June Cleaver wearing pearls and waiting by the door with a drink in hand for her husband anymore.

True. I don't define myself as just a SAHM. I earned a degree while raising children, I help my partner run a small business. Most women who I know that are working to make ends meet wish they could do the same. I look after their children after school to help out because I understand their struggle. I take them to after school activities, have them during school holidays and treat them like one of my own. A lot of SAHM's that I know happily fill in the gaps for mums who are working. And incidentally, all the mums I do this for (unpaid) are child care workers, who are underpaid and undervalued IMO.

I've worked but now stay at home. I'd rather the latter for a whole host of reasons. It's never occurred to me to belittle a woman's choice either way.

Stay at home mom, i get...

Stay at home WIFE? That conjures up images of the dutiful spouse cooking and cleaning all day and then greeting DH at the door with a dry martini...

I flip the gender and again, i get the stay at home dad, but stay at home husband? Once more; does not compute...

Surely, I'm missing something? Sincere question: what's the appeal to being a stay at home spouse?

Even though it wasn't for me, when I tried it, I get it.

I'm sure there are other reasons. But for a lot of couples I think it's the fact that the whole corporate rat race is really taxing. With commutes and overtime and meetings and all that jazz, it can be really difficult to keep up a life, a home, a marriage. Sure it's doable. But it can be a lot to handle. When one person doesn't work outside the home, it's easier for things to get done. When I (fairly briefly) was a SAHW, I did every load of laundry, cleaned everything, cooked almost every meal (less $ spent on dining out), etc. If there were any errands that needed to be done during typical "office hours" - banking, veterinarian, waiting on the cable guy, plumber, or whatever - it was convenient for me to do them. I can see why some couples thrive in that type of situation, definitely. Not to mention if BOTH partners are suited to their roles, they would probably be happier. For me it was kind of the opposite because I got really bored & disconnected and felt frustrated by being at home so much. But for some women (or men) I think it would be great.

My husband works from home currently and we enjoy some of these perks too. Ultimately he won't work from home but at this time he's dealing with dissolving his parents' business and handling their estate (they recently died) on top of his freelance work. For right now, it is seriously nice for everything to basically revolve around my office job schedule! There is no waiting for him to get off work. We just have one full bath so there is no working out a showering schedule. The cat is taken care of all day. When it's snowy/icy he drives me to work. He often has dinner ready when I get home. If we feel like taking a trip, we only have to work that out with 1 employer (mine). It's great.

If I could work part-time, that would be ideal. Since I had not been able to locate a part time position, over a year ago I took a full time position. I quit one year ago--it just was not working out for my family.

I have been stay at home for a year now and I enjoy it. I am able to take the kids to school, pick them up, we have home cooked meals, all the housework is done during the week and my husband and I can enjoy the weekends (instead of doing all the around the house work on Saturday and Sunday). On the weekends we spend more time recreating than working. When my kids are sick, we don't have to argue about who is going to try to get time off from our jobs to take care of the child. Cable company appointments--no taking the day off. No nanny or day care (done both). We don't have to fight to coordinate our vacations together. I don't have to work holidays and kids vacations. When he has to travel for work, we can go with him (quite the bonus--he works for a cruise line).

Most important, I am available for the kids. I volunteer at their school, see their performances, take them to their activities. It isn't a nanny doing this. I am not missing out on anything now.

I am fortunate that my husband makes enough to do this. If I had the higher income, it would be him staying home, but he makes more than double my last salary. However, I need to keep up my skills or going back to work will not happen. I believe this is important because if anything happens to him I will need to work. So, still looking out for a part time position.

i'm sorry to the sahm's, but i died when i saw this

I could never do it.
I don't want to have kids anyway. But being a stay at home wife? Hell no! That's definitely something I would never do.
DINK ftw!