Unique contributions to society
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| Thu, 10-19-2006 - 4:12pm |
In another thread, the "unique" contributions of SAHM's were alluded to but it wasn't stated what they are. Let's play a game and find out what they are. First, pretend that as of tomorrow, all moms SAH and detail what will be missing from society then pretend that all moms go to work and detail what will be missing from society. I'm really curious as to what people think a world without SAHM's orWOHM's would look like.
If all the moms who SAH went to work then the library would move story hour to the evening and summer vacation bible school would be held in the evenings so that all kids can attend and not just the kids of SAHM's. Banks would likely shift their hours to later in the day and you'd see more 24 hour stores. I think there would be more home cooking style restaurants too. I think day care centers would improve because of increased demand.
If all moms who WOH suddenly SAH, you'd see fewer service industries around because moms could do things themselves instead of paying for them. The nursing shortage would be more of a shortage. We'd probably have a shortage of teachers too. There'd be fewer government services because there'd be less tax dollars to pay for them. I can't think of anything else right now.

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You're right, it's not a skill or personality trait that either DH or I have. We are nowhere near patient enough to do all that.
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....and what if the wohm doesn't use child care to begin with and perhaps the sahm does?
PumpkinAngel
But I'm married to someone who doesn't mind me making the overwhelmingly majority of what may be joing decisions in your household.
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Heck, Allen is only the kids' stepfather. And there are times when he knows more about one of them/the situation than I do. In the beginning, I was very much "in control" of all kid-related things; they were my kids, not his. Now? Not so much. I run almost all non-routine decisions by him (the bigger ones run by their dad too) and sometimes his input is CRUCIAL. Sometimes, it is my input that isn't even needed. (i.e. He and Callahan are going on a scout trip this weekend; that was almost 100% Allen's decision.)
I think DH and I have this Venn Diagram thing going. there's a lot of stuff, we are totally independent. I don't care what kind of car he drives because I know he wouldn't pick out something that would work for the whole family. He doesn't know where or how often I go out to lunch with friends or the extent of my charitable giving until the end of the year because he trusts my spending habits. We make big decisions, like where the kids are going to school, together after extensive research. We plan vacations together, but we also take separate trips from time to time. Any time I put the kids in an activity that would possibly involve him driving them places or showing up, he gets asked. The little one joined chess club at school some months back and we forgot to tell him -- because all it involves is going to school one day a week early, and DH is gone by the time the little guy leaves. I buy all the kids clothes at this point, I don't bother running it by him that one has outgrown his winter coat so should I get the other one a new coat while I am at it? I just do, or don't...
We have a couple of rooms in the house -- three, to be precise, he has told me to do what I want in there -- the guest bedroom and bathroom, and the one I use for crafting/sewing. He couldn't care less what we do in the kids' rooms in the way of decorating. Anything in our bedroom or the public space in the house, he wants veto power over. Sometimes he has a bright idea of his own.
Sabina
Sabina
Oh, life is a glorious cycle of song,
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