SAHM: Stay at Home Mom

I'm not even going to deny the fact that I have made offhanded comments about women who choose to be just homemakers and mothers without balancing a career. I often thought that throughout all of the progress that has been made and the opportunities that now exist for women, every woman should seize the opportunity and be something. Did "being something" mean staying at home, cleaning, cooking, and taking care of kids?

Maybe it's not even a womanly thing I'm concerned about - if I learn that a person, male or female, stays at home and does housework all day, I usually think "what is he/she doing with his/her life?" I would feel so empty if I had to stay in a home all day. And there is the problem with my preconceived judgments: the word I. Yes, it's very true that even a few days of idleness makes me feel unproductive, forcing me to pick up a new activity, read all day, or solve problems from a DAT workbook.

I have had one goal and one dream for the majority of my life now, so foregoing marriage and parenthood for my profession that comes extremely easily. For some people, being a good parent and creating a stable family unit are top priorities - is there something wrong with that?

I had a pretty myopic point of view for the majority of my life, because both of my parents worked insane hours while I was growing up, causing me to be shuttled from one place to the next by other guardians. They were still there to remind me to practice the clarinet/piano or to study, but they were never home when I got home from school. Do I think that their absence made an impact on the way I grew up? Perhaps, but I ended up being relatively fine in my opinion. My parents absence taught me how to be independent from a very early age, even if there are other issues at hand that may have resulted from their absence as well.

I read this article about the judgments cast on a woman who is judged by her "stay at home" or "not working outside of the home" status. The derailments she faced are very reminiscent of my own snide remarks. After reading it, it gave me more perspective on how to not judge people's decisions and let them live their damn lives. If they feel a void, they will fill it with work, additional schooling, or whatever they want - it's really not your concern. If they are afforded with the opportunity to do whatever the they want, then they should do it. Being a mother and being a homemaker are not statuses to frown upon; people are just different and in no way are these women harming you.