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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote]I think she made it up to write her blog/article to make money. Never once has someone at a store asked me what I do. Bizarre.[/quote]

Seriously.  Particularly at 11:30am on a weekday with a baby in tow, no store clerk is assuming anything other than that you're a stay-at-home mom.  It's not some radical choice like the author wants it to be.[/quote]

In her defense, when you first quit work to SAH you don't realize how much of your identity and sense of self comes from what you do for a living.  Obviously, when you work full time the better part of your day is going to spent doing work and you are routinely judged for how well you do that work.  If you do your job well you can expect to get positive feedback, raises and promotions.

Once you quit to SAH, that positive external feedback suddenly stops, you are stripped of your job title and you step into a role that really isn't valued that greatly by society these days.  Unless you are very intrinsically motivated to SAH and are prepared to put in the work required to make it a worthwhile experience you can start to feel a bit devalued as a person.  At the same time, you really can't expect for random people like store clerks to care that you SAH or praise you for SAH with your kids.  It can feel a little bit thankless because you are dealing 24/7 with cranky babies, explosive diapers, potty training toddlers, colic, stomach bugs and vomit, tantrums, messy playrooms......it's got to be worth it to you or you do start to feel a bit diminished as a person.  A critical or dismissive remark from a random adult can rub you the wrong way because you are tired, you have been give, give, giving with no break and no praise.  You can start to feel a little bit defensive about your choice to SAH.

At any rate, I get where the author is coming from.  But, at the same time, the author is going to have a L-O-N-G 18 years if she expects to get praised for her decision to SAH.  This is her personal choice and she either needs to be o.k. with it and get value from it OR she needs to consider returning to her job.
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