SAH/WOH - Why?

iVillage Member
Registered: 11-18-2005
SAH/WOH - Why?
3166
Mon, 02-20-2006 - 7:41am

I am sure this has been done before but I was wondering this in light of recent posts lately.

Why did you decide to sah/woh?

Was it a choice or something expected of you?

Was your plan to sah/woh though out or impulsive? Long-term or short-term?

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iVillage Member
Registered: 01-18-2006
Thu, 03-09-2006 - 1:38pm

***Your family of four will be driving 4 cars. My family of four will be driving 2 cars. And that's even without considering the SUV you drive, your inability to carpool or use public transportation, and the considerably greater distances you drive.***

So your kids will never drive a car? Yes I drive an SUV, due to the fact that is what we use for our family car. I also drive it because it is a LEV that is environmentally better than a lot of cars on the road today. You are right, no public transportation is not available where I live. Do you use it?

***Those things are your choice, but I don't think you should kid yourself that you don't have any more effect on your community than the family who drives fewer cars/cars that get better gas mileage, carpools, uses public transportation, or simply drives fewer miles than you do.***

I drive less now than a lot of people do. Some people do get a lot better gas mileage than I do yes. Some also get worse. Carpooling and public trans might be an easy thing where you live. That isn't the case here. Do you take the bus or do you drive?


 

iVillage Member
Registered: 01-18-2006
Thu, 03-09-2006 - 1:40pm
When my children are older I will be working. Adding the driving they will need me to do for them will likely cause me to need a new car. I don't drive cars much over what I stated before. The engines are wearing out and are costly to repair. Not to mention the new technology today. My SUV uses less gas than my neighbors 1999 WIndstar, not to mention I have lower emissions.

 

iVillage Member
Registered: 01-18-2006
Thu, 03-09-2006 - 1:45pm

***But how can you avoid getting to know at least a few other families through the years?***

Well that will depend on where my kids go to school. If they are in public school then I am sure I will get to know their friends parents. You said community, not my children's friends.

***How can you avoid being on in what other families consider appropriate in terms of all the different issues that come up in raising teens?**

I can't avoid it. Doesn't mean I will live my life by what the Joneses or the Smith's are doing with their kids.

***Even if you feel capable and prefer to make all your decisions strictly on your own terms, is it wrong for teens to compare themselves to their peers and model themselves after them?***

Yes it is wrong. I want my kids to be themselves. They shouldn't model themselves after anyone. Ever hear walk to the beat of your own drum? If I want to buy my son a brand new Honda Accord, I will do just that. I don't really base my decisions on the fact that his best friend just got a new Tahoe, or his other friend got s Schwinn. Neither are a factor in the decisions we make for our son.

 

iVillage Member
Registered: 01-18-2006
Thu, 03-09-2006 - 1:48pm
You driving an older van has an effect too. Your older van emits more emissions than my SUV.

 

iVillage Member
Registered: 01-18-2006
Thu, 03-09-2006 - 1:50pm
No I think you misunderstood the question. Are you saying that we are doing something wrong as parents by buying them a car? That they will have lesser values than a teen that doesn't have their parents buy them a car?

 

iVillage Member
Registered: 11-03-2005
Thu, 03-09-2006 - 1:51pm

<>

Really? You think so? <> That's 44,333 miles per year. That's almost 3x the national average.

iVillage Member
Registered: 12-29-2004
Thu, 03-09-2006 - 1:53pm
Who would your community be if not your kids' friends and their families? You're clearly into the beat of your own drum, and more power to you there. But if you think your kids won't want to fit in with their peers when they're teens, you don't know much about child develoment.
iVillage Member
Registered: 01-18-2006
Thu, 03-09-2006 - 1:54pm
Did you miss the par where it said WHEN I WOH? Remember I am a SAHM....that was 6 years ago.

 

iVillage Member
Registered: 06-27-1998
Thu, 03-09-2006 - 2:06pm

Do you have any data to back any of those claims up with?

PumpkinAngel

iVillage Member
Registered: 11-03-2005
Thu, 03-09-2006 - 2:07pm
And we're also talking about when your kids are teens ... at which point you've said you'll be WOH again ...

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