Affording to Stay at Home

iVillage Member
Registered: 12-01-2007
Affording to Stay at Home
1968
Wed, 12-12-2007 - 12:20am

Ever notice that those moms that SAH are usually (although not always) more well off than mothers who WOH? It seems to me, based on what I have seen, that while most women enjoy working their jobs and having a professional life outside of the home, some women prefer to stay home with their kids for a certain amount of time - whether it be 1 year or 10 years - and those women have the option to do so, while other women wouldn't even consider the option because they feel they can't afford it.

Well, it has been my experience that most women who do stay at home have

1) husbands who support the idea

2) Husbands who probably earn enough (or almost enough) to support the family.

3) Enough money to support themselves without working.

**Now I am not talking about people who get help from government agencies, I am speaking about women who do it with no outside help - just seems like most women can't because of financial reasons. So, is being a SAH mom now an "upper class" phenomenon - in general? Of course there are many SAH moms that are middle class, but if they chose to have paying jobs, they'd probably move right back up into that higher income bracket.

Blythe

http://beaworkathomemom.blogspot.com/

Working on being...Supermom!

Blythe http://beaworkathomemom.blogspot.com/ Working on being...Supermom!

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iVillage Member
Registered: 10-05-2007
Wed, 12-26-2007 - 2:47pm

Don't worry, I won't *bite*.


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Ducky

iVillage Member
Registered: 04-27-2005
Wed, 12-26-2007 - 2:48pm
I must have missed some of the discussion then, sorry. Maybe I am thinking of my situation by owing a home that I would not benefit from selling and moving to an apt. because the rent would be much more than my mortgage.
iVillage Member
Registered: 04-27-2005
Wed, 12-26-2007 - 2:49pm
Don't worry, I am not going there again either-lol!!
iVillage Member
Registered: 07-17-2005
Wed, 12-26-2007 - 3:02pm

Thanks for posting that. People should realize that things change over time and what was true in 1999 is not necessarily true to-date. They should also realize that what they hear from friends and family is often out-dated hearsay.

iVillage Member
Registered: 12-06-2004
Wed, 12-26-2007 - 3:07pm

I think you are cutting down people who are making a living as best they can.. You are judging a book by its cover.

iVillage Member
Registered: 10-05-2007
Wed, 12-26-2007 - 3:41pm

I didn't gather snobbish from her posts.

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Ducky

iVillage Member
Registered: 07-17-2005
Wed, 12-26-2007 - 3:47pm

I have worked in the industry and plenty of college graduates are farmers. There are many management tasks as well as science that these people have knowledge of. So many of them are smarter than some may give them credit for. In addition, they take pride in hard work and quality products, too bad we can't say the same about big-name corporations and many of their employees.

iVillage Member
Registered: 12-06-2004
Wed, 12-26-2007 - 4:02pm

To me it sounds snobbish.

iVillage Member
Registered: 10-05-2007
Wed, 12-26-2007 - 4:27pm

I see your point, and don't disagree.

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Ducky

iVillage Member
Registered: 07-17-2005
Wed, 12-26-2007 - 4:46pm

Someone who just doesn't have a clue WOULD assume that all classes are taught by Mom. I don't know a single family where that has happened. I teach high school homeschool classes myself and my oldest is only 8. Someone else is teaching him and my two year old while I'm with the older kids. Sometimes our 12-week sessions may include all ages for the duration but not always.

Because I don't have an *artistic* bone in my body, I would never be the only Art teacher my child ever has in his/her academic years. In addition some families use DVD's and online *teachers* - the Art class is awsome! And since I struggle with Grammar, I would never teach a class such as "Composition". Because I am good with Math and Spreadsheets, I teach that instead and leave Grammar to another Mom or Dad. Since I do know another language, I teach that. The other parents do the same type of teaching. One of our loops has over 200 kids and all of the parents do manage to use their own best skills to benefit all of our children, not just their own.

In addition there are museums and nature centers that offer year-round classes. My kids are spending the night at the Zoo to study the night-life of nocturnal animals. They get to see them using special lights. The toddlers group won't go through the zoo where the others are sleeping but the older kids do. They all get to spend an hour in the reptile house. I can add up all the fun and exciting learning that my kids get to do each year and never will your public or private school list of good quality learning measure up. The fun doesn't measure up either. Mom or Dad is hardly EVER the teacher for every class every school year.

I get tired of people writing little phrases that lead the readers to picture Mom and kids at the dining room table every single boring day...its sooooooooooo not like that!

I am happy to be by my kids' side when he/she hears words for the first time that require adult explanation vs learning those meanings from peers. Those things I am capable of teaching him, when it comes to something I'm not then I don't.

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