Is the SAHM the new status symbol?

iVillage Member
Registered: 03-26-2003
Is the SAHM the new status symbol?
1697
Tue, 09-23-2003 - 10:36pm
In the 70's and 80's women fought to get into the workforce (the whole Ms. magazine generation)...and then the tide turned in the late 1990's when more women started to stay home by choice. Now, it seems like being a SAHM is a status symbol....and superior to being a working mom.

Kat

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iVillage Member
Registered: 08-19-2003
Thu, 10-02-2003 - 7:30pm
Edited


Edited 10/2/2003 7:35:36 PM ET by lukeslawmom
iVillage Member
Registered: 03-31-2003
Thu, 10-02-2003 - 7:53pm
Oh, I think she gets your reasons. She just doesn't think they are good enough.

I've spent enough time in states where water is scarce to be able to see her point. In places like that, being extravagant with water will earn you the disdain of your neighbors REALLY fast. Showering 2X daily, every single day, whether you are dirty or not, *is* a bit extravagant from a water usage point of view. Of course, if you were to say that you knew it was, and had installed a very low-flow shower head to cut down the damage, I think she might go a bit easier on you.

My own personal rule is that I'm not going to shower in the morning if I know that I will be doing something in the next 4 hrs. that will make it necessary to shower again. This is better from a water-savings pt. of view, but also for your skin; too much hot water is very drying. Also, if I was so sore or dirty that I had to shower at night before going to bed, I'm not going to do more than just wash my hair in the morning, unless there was some seriously sweaty s-x happening in the meantime. DH and I usually share a shower, it's quicker and uses less water. If I'm not doing something extraordinarily grubby, I'm not going to be showering twice in 24 hours. As to my kid, if he's outside grubbing in the dirt, I'll wash him off outside with the hose. If he's bad enough to need a bath, then that's his bath for the day. BTW, I DO have low-flow shower heads installed, and a pt. of use water heater; I hate wasting money on utilities. I don't use a sprinkler, either; I use a soaker hose on a timer. I've debated getting a wastewater tank for gardening, but it wouldn't work well at our house because of the terrain, the yard is higher than the house.

Avatar for outside_the_box_mom
iVillage Member
Registered: 03-26-2003
Thu, 10-02-2003 - 7:59pm
It was the showers and sheets that did it. Remember the whole conversation about AC use and heavy cleaning vs. light cleaning days? LOL
iVillage Member
Registered: 09-25-2003
Thu, 10-02-2003 - 8:00pm

Preschools and child care centers (which for me are ONLY distinguished by the hours they operate) are also geared towards educating young children. . .in the means by which young children learn best--- PLAY.


The educational curriculum of quality preschools and child care centers may not be as appearant as that of a more traditional school or mandated by the state and managed by a local school district. . .but that doesn't mean that it doesn't exist.

Virgo
 
iVillage Member
Registered: 08-19-2003
Thu, 10-02-2003 - 8:00pm
Yes, I'm not trying to be "water nazi." :)

I am just frustrated when someone cannot see (or cannot admit) that our resources are scarce and that their actions are in fact harming the environment.

And I'm with you, my skin would totally dry out if I showered that frequently!

iVillage Member
Registered: 03-26-2003
Thu, 10-02-2003 - 8:00pm
Yep. I saw it coming from a mile away.
iVillage Member
Registered: 09-13-2003
Thu, 10-02-2003 - 8:17pm
This poster isn't Maxchandler. We post on boards together at another web site & exchange emails. I met up with her while driving this summer thru Nashville. She gave me a lovely tour of the Opryland hotel & treated me to dinner. She is the kind & sweet person I thought she would be from knowing her from the message boards. She is very real & is exactly how she describes herself.

She has a brand new baby. Her ds is now 7 and in the 2nd grade.

She also posts every now & then on non-debate boards here at ivillage but acknowleges in her signature she is "maxchandler" although she has changed her screen name.

I started lurking here after we talked and she told me about the ivillage boards.

Besides, Maxchandler would never hire a nanny. Only family keeps her children.

She doesn't have a housecleaning service either. I even remember in the latter part of her pregnancy when she couldn't do the cleaning herself that her mom and sister helped her out.

iVillage Member
Registered: 03-26-2003
Thu, 10-02-2003 - 8:26pm
ITA

Anyhow, did he actually mean to examine everyone else's lives, in order to judge and criticize them?

iVillage Member
Registered: 09-29-2003
Thu, 10-02-2003 - 8:27pm
No but the overall trend is. 10,000 years ago, we were living in caves
iVillage Member
Registered: 09-01-2003
Thu, 10-02-2003 - 8:28pm
We have the low flow shower heads. Installed them when we remodeled the bathrooms. I can see muffinsandtoasts point. But then I'm a 2 shower a day kinda gal & my hubby is that kinda guy. In fact, it is shower time here right now.

S.V.

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