Friday, July 20, 2007

My twin?

I think I have found my twin, except I am old enough to be her mother, maybe if you fudge a few years, her grandmother.

Leah
writes about how she knew she wanted to be a "stay at home wife" from the beginning. She wasn't happy working or going to school because home was where she wanted to be.

Well, rewind that tape to 1966 and you find Norma. I didn't have the chance to go to college but I had a good job when I got married. I quit to move with DH, who was in the AF at the time. His mother had always had to work when he was growing up and he hated it. So when I wanted to look for a job (that is what a good wife would do right?) it came out that he hoped I would just take care of business on the home front. OK, that was fine with me.

Three children and a AF career that meant moving every four years made staying at home make even more sense. Our kids were older when he retired from the military and went to work in Phoenix. I felt I needed a outlet to meet people so found myself the perfect job that I loved. It was at a school...........which translates to no weekends or evenings, Christmas and Spring break and summers off. Perfect match all the way around. I quit that after 15 years to, again, "stay home" with the grand kids. I had people tell me that they would NEVER quit a job to stay home with little kids again. I was thrilled that DD and SIL asked me to do this. The thought of those babies going to day care was more than this "stay at home" could handle.

So, grand kids are not going to be here this year, and I am still "Stay at home".
I have people ask me if I get bored.............NO. I learned long ago how to stay busy and if you do it right, staying home is a lot of hard work! I cook from scratch, I bake, I clean...........I take care of business.

The real key in all this is...........a husband who is willing to work double hard so I can stay home. We have had to be very careful with our money to allow me to do this. That is part of my job, to make the money stretch as far as it needs to go.

You can live on one income, but believe me, it is work.

So, Leah, you are lucky that you know what you want and how to go about getting it. Don't EVER let someone put you down for being a "STAY AT HOME". ( has happened to me, more than I care to say).

3 comments:

Leah Spencer said...

Well, I'm blessed that I have never been "put down" for staying at home. Sure, my dad will sometimes "encourage" me to go back to college, but it's not my desire at this time. I'm open to the possibility that someday I might WANT to go back to college, but it's not now.

Otherwise, I've never been looked down at for staying at home. Maybe it helps to hang around people who do think staying at home is a good idea. :)

And to reply to your comment on my blog (your email address doesn't show), no, I don't really feel like I should have been born in a different time. I do feel like that I can encourage other women to stay at home NOW. Maybe we can begin a stay-at-home movement. ;)

I do feel like by the time most women realize that the workforce isn't for them, they're too "addicted" to the income they do bring in. But being one income from the start makes it so much easier - you don't know what you're missing (fancy house, new cars) if you never had it in the first place! :)

Lynda (Granny K) said...

Staying at home again is 'top of my wish list' right now. I have just had a week's holiday (vacation!)from work, just to do 'nothing in particular', catch up on housework, clean and quilt. It has been wonderful.
We've only got a certain amount of energy to expend and I have to ration it out nowadays.
DH is retired already and i'm looking forward to being able to stay home with him.

QuiltingFitzy said...

College was not my thing either. I never learned how to effectively study, so if I didn't get it the first time around, I just didn't.

I go hot and cold about staying home. 1st dh tried to make me stay home, so I started child care in my home. Now, even tho I complain about my current hours of work, I do love it. I'm lucky tho, dh enjoys being the Domestic King of the Castle! I on the other hand, lack the domestic gene of desire when it comes to cleaning and caring for the home.