Reply to I hate when people assume I have a ton of free time because I SAH

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Being home with kids may not mean a lot of free time, but it’s certainly more FLEXIBLE than working outside the house. I can run that errand / watch that friend’s kid when they have an emergency / make that phone call, because I can either rearrange my day to make it work or do it while I’m doing other stuff. I have a baby on two naps right now, but when I have a toddler on one nap I LOVE midday errands. I would so much rather walk around the empty grocery store showing him all the different fruit as we shop than sit at home intensively parenting. I would love to have phone calls while I’m making lunch or folding laundry.

But then, I also prefer to call myself a housewife vs a SAHM. I don’t have my attention entirely on my kids the whole time I’m at home. I am also cooking, cleaning, and making all the arrangements for our lives. I wouldn’t want a nanny doing that for HER life, but if I had a WOH job I’d love to pay someone to do it for ours…[/quote]

Depends on the kid and the job. Lots of people with WFH jobs have that exact flexibility. And some people have more challenging kids than others. I had a 3 year old who went through a phase of having enormous meltdowns any time our schedule changed in any way. That didn't feel flexible AT ALL. Doing basic stuff like going to the grocery story required a ton of work on my part to get my kid ready for that slight change in routine. I would have watched a friend's kid in an emergency, but I also would have known it would almost certainly cause massive struggles with my extremely strong-willed kid.

Anyway, there's just no way to compare these things. Some kids are easier. Some ages are easier. Some jobs are easier. You absolutely cannot assume that a SAHM has more free time or greater flexiblity than someone with a job (hello, the whole point of OP's post is that nanny is a job, and it's not super flexible or filled with free time, so why would you assume being a SAHM is?).[/quote]

Yes, it definitely depends on the kid. But the difference is that being a SAHM is like being a freelancer and being a nanny [b]is[/b] being an employee. Either way you have stuff you have to get done, and it's rude to assume that because someone isn't answerable to an outside "boss" that they can do whatever you want them to do! But it's also true that if your spouse is hit by a car and you need to go to the ER, your SAH or freelancer friend will probably be able to rearrange their day more easily to watch your kids more easily than your nanny or WOH friend. [/quote]

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