I don't like the acronym. I don't like any of the acronyms. I also don't like the working vs. non-working mother stuff, and I am especially tired of the fact that we as a society are still talking about housework, child care, and paid employment as issues that primarily affect the parents who are mothers.

All parents -- fathers as well as mothers -- are people who potentially (but not necessarily actually) do some or all of the following:

1. housework
2. child care
3. paid employment

Ok then. Sounds like WOHM had a bad day at her day job.

Um, nice try PP.

Let me dumb this down for you:

SAHM Sally has two precious snowflakes in elementary school. They get on the bus at 8:30, and they get home at 3:30...except on the days they have after school activities.

WOHM Wanda also has two kids in elementary school. Same bus schedule. Wanda gets home from her FT lawyer gig in DC by 5pm (she heads in super early while DH gets the kids on the bus in the morning, so she avoids rush hour and can get home at a reasonable time).

Wanda spends 40 hours a week kicking ass at her day job.

Sally spends her day at the gym, running errands and cleaning (actually, scratch that...Sally has a cleaning service).

If you fail to recognize that one lady is working two jobs while the other lady has a cakewalk, then we are done here...obviously you are delusional.

Anonymous wrote:All moms work, but moms who are paid have TWO jobs (one at the office, and one at home). That's the difference. Period.

Two PARTTIME jobs.
There, fixed that for you.

All moms work, but moms who are paid have TWO jobs (one at the office, and one at home). That's the difference. Period.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I always thought WOHM and WAHM were the same thing!

Thanks for clarifying. And I too prefer "working mom." I don't think it's a slap in the fact to moms who work from home or stay at home and don't work (for money--we all know that SAHMs do a lot of work!). It's just a more familiar term to people who don't camp out on message boards all day.

That's the thing, all moms are working moms. The distinction lies in where the work occurs.

All moms have work to do in caring for children and home, yes. Not all moms have work - as in "where do you work" or "what type of work do you do" or "time to catch the bus/metro/drive to work". Not all moms are working moms. There is a difference.

Work is work. Your "distinction" only attempts to make one type more important than the other.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I always thought WOHM and WAHM were the same thing!

Thanks for clarifying. And I too prefer "working mom." I don't think it's a slap in the fact to moms who work from home or stay at home and don't work (for money--we all know that SAHMs do a lot of work!). It's just a more familiar term to people who don't camp out on message boards all day.

That's the thing, all moms are working moms. The distinction lies in where the work occurs.

All moms have work to do in caring for children and home, yes. Not all moms have work - as in "where do you work" or "what type of work do you do" or "time to catch the bus/metro/drive to work". Not all moms are working moms. There is a difference.

We don't have time to worry about such things.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I work outside of my house. I spend three hours a day commuting. I have a kid with some sort of delay we haven't figured out yet.

I couldn't care less.

Hoping for the best for your child, PP.

Me too.

I don't think about it at all. I think the only distinction is whether you have to take leave to wait for the servicepeople or whether you can be on the clock working while you're waiting for "sometime between ten and two".

Anonymous wrote:I always thought WOHM and WAHM were the same thing!

Thanks for clarifying. And I too prefer "working mom." I don't think it's a slap in the fact to moms who work from home or stay at home and don't work (for money--we all know that SAHMs do a lot of work!). It's just a more familiar term to people who don't camp out on message boards all day.

That's the thing, all moms are working moms. The distinction lies in where the work occurs.

Anonymous wrote:I work outside of my house. I spend three hours a day commuting. I have a kid with some sort of delay we haven't figured out yet.

I couldn't care less.

Hoping for the best for your child, PP.

I always thought WOHM and WAHM were the same thing!

Thanks for clarifying. And I too prefer "working mom." I don't think it's a slap in the fact to moms who work from home or stay at home and don't work (for money--we all know that SAHMs do a lot of work!). It's just a more familiar term to people who don't camp out on message boards all day.

I work outside of my house. I spend three hours a day commuting. I have a kid with some sort of delay we haven't figured out yet.

I couldn't care less.

This acronym confused me for the longest time. I thought it meant working out of your house - in other words, working AT home. Then I saw the WAHM acronym and got REALLY confused. So, now I get that WOHM/WAHM distinguishes whether you work outside or inside the home, but who really cares about this distinction? Does it actually come up a lot? Or is WOHM designed to not offend SAHMs by implying that what SAHMs do isn't work?

Personally, I prefer "working mom." I don't like having to caveat it with "outside the home" and am not convinced I should have to.

Then again, I honestly hate all the mommy forum acronyms but it's impossible not to use them after being immersed in them for awhile.