Poll: Working Mom/ SAHM

[Anonymous]

My mom worked full time and made much more money than my dad. Ditto for me.

[Anonymous]

Mum was a teacher do it felt like she stayed at home. I have done a combo. After first child SAH for 3 years then went back to work for 4.5 years until my twins and now u am a SAHM again and I don't plan to go back to work outside the home.

[Anonymous]

mom worked FT. I'm SAHM.

[Anonymous]

Mom has always worked FT (still does). So do I (but have flexible hours). Never considered SAH.

[Anonymous]

My mom was a SAHM. I work FT.

[Anonymous]

I had a SAHM and I work full-time. Would like to stay home though!

[Anonymous]

Mom SAHM, I work PT.

[Anonymous]

My mom worked full-time so I never considered saying home till I lot my job after my maternity leave was over and was told I could not come back as I needed 2 more weeks for my day care to start (I still had annual leave left but my boss would not approve)... with day care costs in less I can get another job paying the same it doesn't make sense financially for me to go back to work.

My mom is devastated I'm not working and makes nasty comments all the time but doesn't help at all (she is retired) with our son but to drop-in visits which makes our lives very difficult. She never gave me the options of making the choice or could support me to make my own decisions - I worked up till our son arrived and now that he is here I can see the benefit, depending on your career (I was so unhappy at my job and everyone was leaving so it wasn't just me) of staying home at least the first year or two, if you can afford it. Pre-son, I couldn't understand it, but that time goes by so quickly and all the centers we went to were not very nice and the one I picked, I felt like I was settling (and they changed the start date by two weeks, which was the problem with my job - originally everything line up). I know there are lots of day cares that take great care of kids/I was a day care kid and some parents are just not that type to stay home, like my mom - I can't see her doing it, but I'm amazed at how much I'm enjoying being home, at least for now. At some point, I'd like to work part-time, but for now, I'm content.

[Anonymous]

My mom tried several different things. She was a SAHM for awhile, but because she suffered from depression, my memory is of her under a blanket asleep on the couch with soap operas on in the background. She worked for a little when I was in first and second grades until the babysitter let me get burned badly. After my younger sister was born (3rd grade) she was a SAHM again, and also (mostly) back under the blanket. She went to college when I went to high school, and had a career FT and then PT as a nurse until she retired. I work FT and also outearn my DH, like some of the PPs. He was not on board with my considering PT or SAHM because of the economic consequences.

So I don't know what being a SAHM is like, because I have never done it, and I am quite sure most SAHMs don't spend their entire day on a couch.

[Anonymous]

My mom was SAHM and I work very happily as a FT physician (with a little flexibility in schedule).

[Anonymous]

My mom stayed at home with us when we were very young, then worked part time at our parent's business, then got divorced, got screwed over, and went to work full time to support her children (of whom she also had primary custody) while my dad barely handed over a cent, and provided nothing in the way of family support. She worked FT permanently thereafter.

I work FT and will not likely ever become a full time stay-at-home, because I have seen the consequences of divorce and my (very bright, well educated) mom trying to get back into the workforce after being out for a number of years. I always want to keep at least one foot in.

[Anonymous]

My mom was a SAHM until my dad decided to run off with another woman. She then worked FT to hardly make ends meet and it was a huge struggle. I work FT and never want to be in her shoes.

[Anonymous]

I really don't have that much of a choice as we have a much higher quality of life and financial security, but it never occurred to me not to work and my mom was a SAHM.

My mom's life was a series of errands, house management, obsessive house cleaning, and cooking. My dad made a great living and is a great man but it never occurred to him to lift a finger at home in terms of laundry, fixing himself a sandwich, putting a dish away, etc. She didn't spend her time on kids' activities and homework (I didn't have help with my homework past 3rd grade). My mom was a "homemaker" in every sense of the word and I wanted NONE of it. I didn't even think I'd get married or have kids in all honesty.

My life now is totally different from my mom's - DH (who had a working mom growing up) does most of the cooking and food prep (packing lunches, etc.), kitchen clean up, and every day house pick up, and we share the laundry and errands (have a housekeeper for deep cleans). Many of the errands my mom ran are now obsolete as I either do them online or not at all (DH doesn't wear suits to work like my dad did so no endless trips to the dry cleaner lots of wash and wear).

It's not as if I'm some super career woman - I love my job and it's challenging but I've cut back to between 32-36 hours since having kids. My mom and dad are very proud of DH and me and the life we have and since watching DH in the kitchen my dad is much more into kitchen clean up and now does a lot more around the house! My parents live fairly close by and my mom has morphed into our family's SAHM and is always cooking and freezing meals for us, etc.

Life is hectic but my mom's life was too. I know being a SAHM is way different now, but I think watching my mom and not having those interests shaped me and my belief that I would work. I hope my daughter will be able to do whatever makes her happy - but I do hope she will find some career that makes her happy, even if she ends up staying home to raise a family for years in between working. I watched my dad achieve a lot and DH and I both love our jobs so I have seen how a career can be a wonderful thing. I also know my mom who didn't really have a career has a fulfilling life too, so I'm not saying one has to have a career to be fulfilled. Just that it is ONE way.

[Anonymous]

I work full-time. Always have.

Mom had me while in college. Did undergrad/grad school full-time. Then stayed at home until parents divorced when I was 9. Worked full-time after that.

[Anonymous]

Mom was a SAHM, I work FT.