What was the staff for, if mom was doing all the work? Your mother's generation is pretty different from what I see now--which is that most of the partners at DH's firm have spouses who are also professionals and who do not SAH. Some might work part-time, but most are also practicing attorneys, quite a few physicians, a handful of professors, some who work for major not-for-profits, etc. We are able to do this while our spouses manage to make partner. While it is true that these professions are generally more flexible that biglaw, they are unmistakably professional careers. I think it's a matter of being efficient with time, using household help strategically, and very importantly, having a spouse who works in biglaw who is genuinely committed to spending time with his family. If you have a SAH spouse who is not efficient or have a lawyer spouse who can't figure out how to schedule a calendar to make time for family, then you probably do need a SAH. This is especially true once you have kids who are all in school full-time, then SAH is nice, but definitely not necessary. |
Your mother did exactly what my mother did and my wife does, both of whom had full-time careers. |
I also do every one of those things (maintenance of family relationships - talk about a stretch - LOL) and I work. |
| Play the powerball. |
| Date a teacher or daycare employee. Stereo-typically they have lower wages and love children. |
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There's a really nice farm down in North Carolina where you can pick one out
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I don't think the pushback is against stay at home moms. I would react the same way if OP's post was, 'where to find girls who want to be successful.' It's a silly question. Humans are different and their feelings about life and what makes them happy evolve over time. To ask where he can find a girl that meets his expectations kind of presumes that like, 'well if you go to church you'll find good christian women who want to stay home and raise your children' and 'if you go to a bar you'll find ambitious cut throat ladies who will wear the pants in the relationship.' It's like talking about a caricature rather than a real human. |
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OP, you can change your mind and your future wife can change her mind. Youth has no way of knowing what Life will make you do! I'm a stay at home mother. I never wanted a career, even though I loved grad school and volunteer in an organization where my experience and background is useful. I am very happy looking after my home, my kids, and my little side job (unpaid). Meet people. Find intelligent, caring ones who place a high value on family. This is really the most important thing you two need to have in common. And who knows? You might find that your wife's job outside the home in no way interferes with taking care of the home and raising children. Perhaps your wife's job will enhance the rest! Perhaps you will find that you are a good fit for a stay-at-home Dad Whatever the future holds for you, you have to learn to adapt and be flexible. And be careful what you wish for...
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| Why all this back and forth about whether people should sah? OP wants a wife to sah. As long as he finds someone who also wants that, what business is it of ours to chime in? He just wants to know where to find one. |
A new poster here. I know at least four SAHMs from the HLS class of 1996 so we may just be familiar with different groups. In fact, the governing board at our children's school has at least 3 SAHMs with degrees from Harvard. None of us has more than 24 hours in a day, and we choose to dedicate different amounts of time to different activities. Yes, I feed my kids and they manage to get to their activities. But, my SAHM friends have more time to connect with their kids rather than having a nanny/babysitter/carpool do the driving to activities, and they also connect more with their kids (and cook more with their kids) because they are home. For families with 3-4 kids, I see a particularly big difference in general coordination and management when they have a SAHM (or a close relative living nearby providing significant assistance). I am a WOHM, and was a SAHM for a few years. I can see the difference that that the time and effort my SAHM dedicate to their families makes. And for those who say "it can be done" through lots of outsourcing, of course it can with enough money. But, that degree of outsourcing of family life is not what many families want for themselves or their kids. |
| I have a Harvard law friend who did the same thing you want OP. He met a nice waitress...great girl.. But, if you want someone who has always wanted to not have a job or a career, you will probably get someone who maybe didn't do as well in school. My friend's kids aren't that smart. |
Wow! Thanks for this tip PP. I am a lawyer and had thought after staying home so long that my law degree had become useless. |
Isn't this something you'd put in your profile? "Looking for a partner in life who wants to build a family" might be a good start, then take it from there. Maybe mention looking for someone "traditional"? I dunno. You'll work on the language. Check in on her background on early dates. If she comes from a culture where lots of mom SAH, that can be an entry point for the discussion. If she's from a family where someone stayed at home with the children, you'll find common ground there. On JDate, there seemed to be a bit of these hints around the site. Men and women would reference family dinners and holidays. It gave anyone reading some insight into they type anyone was looking to date. It would seem that online dating would make this pretty simple, OP. The questions that would be more helpful for you to answer all center around what else you may be looking for in a partner. Is education a priority? If so, there's nothing wrong with asking about a woman's plans for after she has children. "Do you see yourself taking time away from your career?" That doesn't seem too off-putting. You would be better off looking for a whole woman, not just someone who desires to be a SAHM. I always had "French-speaker" on my silly list for the ideal partner. Turned out he was pretty terrible in a lot of other (far more meaningful) categories. I suggest you spare yourself the same experience (divorce). Do you want someone community-minded, "church-y," athletic? Each of these is easily screened for online. Good luck to you! |
Ahhhh. Let the blame-casting begin. First blame SAHM for being too lazy -- why does she need any help if she is SAHM? Answer -- my mom scrubbed plenty of toilets and did endless loads of laundry, but she didn't also mow the lawn, trim the trees, fix the leaky toilet, or renovate the house nor was she able to be in 3 separate locations with her 3 different kids. She used other staff for that. And, let me tell you, she was plenty organized. The woman could run logistics for the US Army. And, BTW, even when we were old enough to be in school full-time, her 3 kids still had plenty of sick days, school holidays, etc. between them. If it doesn't work to blame the woman, then we must blame the man. He doesn't care enough about family, so he chooses to spend all that time at work because he doesn't want to be at home. The idea that professional attorneys (or other professionals) can schedule their time to include family may be true for some practice areas but is not true for all, just like some dermatologists have more control of their practice hours than say cardiac surgeons. The reality is that Dad founded his own highly successful boutique law firm after leaving a high level political appointment. He was responsible for making sure dozens of other people stayed employed, so you can bet that he allowed himself to be at the beck and call of clients globally. Then dad merged his firm with another BigLaw firm. Also, still at clients' beck and call around the world. My husband also works internationally and sometimes gets just 3 days notice to be away for 6 weeks. We all make choices about what we do, and some of us still work at careers that don't combine well with kids, so one person opts to stay home. Please, I accept that some women manage to combine good careers with raising kids, and they have all kinds of creative ways of doing so. Why is the SAHM and H of the SAHM still looked down upon? SAHM is stereotyped as lazy or unorganized. H of SAHM is also stereotyped as unorganized and uncaring about his family. Until we value the unpaid work of raising children, maintaining the household and maintaining family ties, no matter which sex is doing it, we are never going to have true partnership and equality. |