To be a traditional sahm ??

maybe Janey, but it's the quickest and simplest way to dismiss an idiot.

Lovely reasoning you have hannah maybe if you got off your arse and into the real world you'd be able to hold a discussion

Huge difference between expressing an opinion which uses an analagy and telling someone to fuck off. Personal insults are just a lazy excuse for a lack of reasoned discussion anyway

a form of prostitution and slavery is not the same as You Are a Prozzie

And I agree with you annie it was a nice discussion and no one (including me) was bitching.

janey, that silly, snidey, patronising comment deserved much much worse than 'fuck off'
I was being polite.
Interesting that the prostitute slave comment has been ignored though

Um where was any personal insult towards anyone in my post? I stayed with in talk guidelines

and please don't forget to report Brandy for calling sahm's prostitutes and slaves whilst you're at it, eh? what a fool you are

Right charmer isn't she!

Nice! And reported.

You know what, Hannah? This was actually a fairly civilised discussion with very little in the way of criticism of either WOHMs or SAHMs until you burst onto the scene screaming and shouting, and since them it has descended into the typical bitchy bunfight. Are you proud of yourself?

Yes, girls are not encouraged to pursue certain careers. The same as boys. Except that the careers boys are not encouraged in are the 'girly, weak' (and usually poorly paid) jobs like childcare etc. While girls are discouraged from maths and science. I'm involved in promoting women in STEM (science, technology, engineering and maths) - it's an ongoing concern to women in our field that there aren't more of us. Hopefully thing will have changed by the time your daughters hit the job market. But at the moment, the whole mentality of "women's brains just aren't designed to do maths or engineering" is still very much a problem.

Thanks catgirl - I don't really think it's so humble either - really quite important and valuable and interesting. It's just not having anything immediately on the horizon work wise is getting to me a bit. Especially when (D)H keeps randomly saying "Get a job !" Not helpful !

I don't think working with children is a "humble" job in any respect juggling

I can't bear people who judge people by how much they earn or what they do.

I hope you get some more work in the New Year. It's bloody tough at the moment. DH has been out of work for nearly 3 years. He got made redundant, then got depression, then DS came along so it made sense for him not to look.

He's looking now, but there's not much out there and he's got a big gap on his CV.

I hate the sneery looks some people give him when they ask what he does and he tells them he's looking for work. As if that has any bearing on his worth as a person.

Chandellina, are girls really encouraged not to pursue high powered careers? I went to an excellent girls grammar and was encouraged all the way. And my daughters are both fearless and ambitious.
They're both gifted and talented in Maths and Science. For real and not to score points on a thread!!

I agree Kim, I have considered going part time, but because I am in a senior position it won't even be considered,and to be honest it is rarely considered for a standard teacher .

If a career dominated by women does not value part time work what hope is there for other "high flying" careers?

Hands up here - I'm not a CEO. I wouldn't even describe my work as traditionally 'high flying'. I don't earn mega bucks, though it's decent money and pension. But it's interesting and stretches me intellectually and is useful. That counts for a lot

Thanks for your generous post catgirl - I do agree with you, but find myself affected by the opinions of others when I have a more humble job (working with children, so I know it's valuable) or as now, periods of not working. Am hoping more work will materialise in the New Year - and that when it does it will be a good kind that works well with our family.

Oh ok, sorry if I misunderstood

Xenia's not turned up yet so we're not all here :)

I don't think the thread is full of people claiming to be high fliers, I've honestly only seen a couple of people, very far from the majority

Maybe I've missed a page of CEOs or something :)

There are changes afoot though aren't there, with parental leave becoming interchangeable so dad can take leave rather than mum taking it all, which is an excellent leap forward IMO.
Though bad news, I expect, for people like the OP- she might find her husband wants a share of the easy life

Hannah, a large minority of university educated women never will have children, yet girls are encouraged to pursue less demanding careers in case a man needs them to raise children.

I'm not sneering at those jobs Catgirl. I was sneering at the fact that these threads always seem to be full of high fliers when in reality most parents are slogging their guts out in often quite unfulfilling national average salary jobs. I've done an ordinary, and vital, national average salary job, so am the last person to sneer at it.