To working moms: If you DH made enough money, would you still work?

[Anonymous]

I would not, but I am curious how many others would still work.

[Anonymous]

Yes. In fact we do have enough and I'm still at my job. I never plan to stay home.

[Anonymous]

Yes, but not at current job and not full time.

[Anonymous]

No interest in being a SAHM. I think it's the hardest job on earth. I applaud SAHMs everywhere. I could not do it.

[Anonymous]

Yes.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:No interest in being a SAHM. I think it's the hardest job on earth. I applaud SAHMs everywhere. I could not do it.

Same here! Hubby makes enough but I am not cut out to stay at home full time. Was at home for a year and started to go a little crazy. Not that I love to work--I have NEVER EVER been one of those people--but I like to drink coffee and talk to other adults. I truly think that being a SAHM is the hardest job on earth.

[Anonymous]

I would stay at home or do volunteer work, or at least something less stressful than now. But he'd have to make a ton, to cover my retirement contribution as well as setting aside $$ for college.

[Anonymous]

Yes.

[Anonymous]

Really hard jobs:

--Air traffic controller
--Military (friend recently left, job was leading platoon of soldiers who de-fused roadside bombs in Iraq)
--Fire fighter
--Psychiatric unit worker
--Miner
--Sweat shop worker standing for 13 hours straight with one bathroom break
--Building girls' schools in Central Asia while facing threats from Jihadists who don't want girls to learn
--Neurosurgeon
--Working single mother with two jobs and no support system
--Aid worker in third-world country with unstable political situation
--Mother theresa

I've done two of those jobs-- psych worker and single mother with two jobs-- and they were far more difficult than my year staying at home. The former was dangerous and the latter was far more exhausting.

Staying at home isn't the picnic that some people romanticize it to be, but do we really have to say that it's the hardest job in the world? Can't it be a good and valid job without the superlatives?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:No interest in being a SAHM. I think it's the hardest job on earth. I applaud SAHMs everywhere. I could not do it.

Same here! Hubby makes enough but I am not cut out to stay at home full time. Was at home for a year and started to go a little crazy. Not that I love to work--I have NEVER EVER been one of those people--but I like to drink coffee and talk to other adults. I truly think that being a SAHM is the hardest job on earth.

LOL. If only that were the description for a job.

[Anonymous]

It depends on how hard DH had to work to make more money. I would love to stay at home but only if DH was able to work reasonable hours. I would rather both of us work but be home by 6 pm every weeknight and around every weekend, then to be a SAHM with my DH not getting home until 8 pm and away many weekends.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Really hard jobs:

--Air traffic controller
--Military (friend recently left, job was leading platoon of soldiers who de-fused roadside bombs in Iraq)
--Fire fighter
--Psychiatric unit worker
--Miner
--Sweat shop worker standing for 13 hours straight with one bathroom break
--Building girls' schools in Central Asia while facing threats from Jihadists who don't want girls to learn
--Neurosurgeon
--Working single mother with two jobs and no support system
--Aid worker in third-world country with unstable political situation
--Mother theresa

I've done two of those jobs-- psych worker and single mother with two jobs-- and they were far more difficult than my year staying at home. The former was dangerous and the latter was far more exhausting.

Staying at home isn't the picnic that some people romanticize it to be, but do we really have to say that it's the hardest job in the world? Can't it be a good and valid job without the superlatives?

Thank you! My brother is a fire fighter and I think his job -- and others like it -- is among the hardest in the world. Yes, it is exhausting to entertain, engage, and educate children all day. But if you think it is the harder than jobs where you put your life on the line or are literally holding other people's lives in your hard (i.e. surgeon), perhaps you shouldn't be a SAH parent. Lines like that just fuel the competitive fire we're trying to end.

[Anonymous]

Really hard jobs:

--Air traffic controller
--Military (friend recently left, job was leading platoon of soldiers who de-fused roadside bombs in Iraq)
--Fire fighter
--Psychiatric unit worker
--Miner
--Sweat shop worker standing for 13 hours straight with one bathroom break
--Building girls' schools in Central Asia while facing threats from Jihadists who don't want girls to learn
--Neurosurgeon
--Working single mother with two jobs and no support system
--Aid worker in third-world country with unstable political situation
--Mother theresa

I've done two of those jobs-- psych worker and single mother with two jobs-- and they were far more difficult than my year staying at home. The former was dangerous and the latter was far more exhausting.

Staying at home isn't the picnic that some people romanticize it to be, but do we really have to say that it's the hardest job in the world? Can't it be a good and valid job without the superlatives?

I hope you don't get flamed to hard for this post. I get the point. Maybe it's more that SAHM is the biggest sacrifice, not necessarily the hardest job. You give up your freedom, adult interaction, self-satisfaction and fulfillment of having a purpose other than from your identity as a mother (which doesn't go away when you are a working mom), a separate life outside the home or school including a different network of peers/colleagues and even friends.

I'm the pp that said I would work but not at my current job and not full time. I would work somewhere and the bare minimum to NOT sacrifice all of the above.

[Anonymous]

Yes, I would still work. Echo PPs that staying at home is relentlessly exhausting especially compared to my job that I love. But more than that (bc despite of the exhaustion, I loved staying at home for a year with DS), I am a worry-wart and want to know that (god forbid) should something happen to DH, I would be able to bring home a reasonable paycheck and good benefits. Finally, DS, as he gets older, will see mom working in a career that makes her happy--which I would like to think will help him to be a more egalitarian husband/father when he grows up.

[Anonymous]

I would love to stay home and fantasize about it daily. I absolutely hate my job, hate working, and love the days I get to stay home with my daughter, even when those days are difficult.