Working Mom to 2 Beautiful Kids

iVillage Member
Registered: 05-27-2004
Working Mom to 2 Beautiful Kids
1070
Thu, 07-06-2006 - 3:13pm

In reading the other posts here, I feel the need to give my opinion (my mother-in-law's phrase - opinions are like rear-ends -- everyone has one and some stink worse than others - LOL!).

I'm an accountant. Granted, my job isn't physically demanding, but at times it is mentally challenging. There are days that I go home and I don't want to cook supper - I'd rather get a bucket of chicken or grab the family to go to the Mexican restaurant down the road to eat. I work 40 hours a week.

As for family's suffering because I work, I think it's give-and-take. Because of my income, we can afford things we wouldn't otherwise be able to have. My kids are able to take piano lessons (yes, they want to - it was their idea), one is in the band at school (who knew a clarinet costs $1,300???) and plays softball and basketball, her little brother is playing football (again, I had to fork out $65 up front - there's no telling how much more I'll have to fork out once practices start!). We drive a minivan with an entertainment system, we get to go to the beach for a week each year. My kids are flying to Dallas next week (we live in Alabama) to visit my sister for the next week. Plane tickets are expensive. All of these things we couldn't do without my income. Since both of my kids are school age, the only time I don't see them that I would if I were a SAHM is 1 1/2 hours in the afternoon during the schoolyear and during the day in the summers. I take them to school - I pick them up at 4:30.

The sacrifices we make because I work - my house isn't as clean as I would like for it to be, my house is a zoo every morning, I have a MOUNTAIN of laundry to do on Saturday, I have to wait for vacation days or holidays to repaint bedrooms or rearrange furniture.

My sister and 4 sisters-in-law all have the luxury (yes, LUXURY) of not having to work. I can't call them before 9 am because most times they aren't out of the bed yet. They call me all day long while I'm at work - "whatcha doin'?" Duh, I'm working!! One of them is on the computer on and off all day long - I know cause I'm sitting here in front of mine and I can see when she logs on and off the messenger program. They wonder why I don't have time to hit this sale or that one. Well, after working all day, shlepping the kids to 14 different activities, I really would rather not go shopping.

One other thing I don't think SAHMs realize - we working mothers aren't shirking our household responsibilities. I still have the house sitting there, waiting for me to come home to clean it. Dinner still has to get to the table. Laundry still has to be washed. Kids still have to be attended to.

I think to each his own - I was a SAHM while my 2 were babies - I couldn't imagine another woman receiving those yummy baby kisses or catching those toddler falls. But that was my preference -- as tired as I am each evening, I can't imagine coming home and taking care of a baby!

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Avatar for kerry88
iVillage Member
Registered: 04-22-2003
Tue, 07-11-2006 - 9:39am
CW stated at one point that since her grandmother was a taxpayer, she'd funded her eldercare.
Kerry with Campbell Elizabeth 11.03.06 and Benjamin Brady 12.10.03
iVillage Member
Registered: 03-26-2003
Tue, 07-11-2006 - 9:42am
A large piece of land cannot be compared to a family heirloom.

VickiSiggy.jpg picture by mamalahk

iVillage Member
Registered: 01-13-2006
Tue, 07-11-2006 - 9:43am
no, she didnt liquidate everything she owned
iVillage Member
Registered: 05-17-2006
Tue, 07-11-2006 - 10:05am
Yes I do know what ethical and legal are. I also disagree that what they did was unethical. Any more than I would think that it was unethical for a family to keep some family heirlooms in the family instead of liquidating them.
iVillage Member
Registered: 05-17-2006
Tue, 07-11-2006 - 10:06am
Ummm she hasn't had the govt step in yet. I believe I have said more than once that she is still funding her own care. You can doubt all you want. Doesn't mean you are right.
iVillage Member
Registered: 01-13-2006
Tue, 07-11-2006 - 10:07am
not surprising since you used tax fraud to back up your debate on another issue
Jennie
iVillage Member
Registered: 05-17-2006
Tue, 07-11-2006 - 10:07am
That is what her children DID. They sold her home and all her assets except for this farm.
iVillage Member
Registered: 05-17-2006
Tue, 07-11-2006 - 10:08am
No that isn't what I said. Someone said let the taxpayers fund her care. She WAS a taxpayer.
iVillage Member
Registered: 05-17-2006
Tue, 07-11-2006 - 10:10am
Oh really? That is hilarious. Like I said family heirlooms can be worth a lot. To even say that these two don't compare go to show that different people have different views on what is of personal value. She doesn't have anything that she considered heirloom. She sold her mothers china, silver, and crystal that was brought here from Germany. I believe she got almost $20K for that alone. Your way off on your assessment.
iVillage Member
Registered: 05-17-2006
Tue, 07-11-2006 - 10:11am
Yes she did. Before she sold her home she had already given her children her property. She liquidated everything she owned.

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