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Original poster

Were you proud of your parents jobs when you were a kid?

80 replies

BabyLlamaZen · 30/08/2020 18:20

Including if one of them was a sahp? And what are your thoughts on them now?

I'm curious to see the answers on this! I was always incredibly proud of what both my parents did (mum in high powered professional role, dad part time teacher and part time sahd). I didn't see one as better than the other, despite the pay and status difference.

I wonder if this is always the case?

OP posts:

Original poster

BabyLlamaZen · 30/08/2020 18:22

And I wonder if a sahm has the same respect?

PLEASE let's not make this a sahm bashing thread.

OP posts:

ilovemydogandmrobama2 · 30/08/2020 18:30

Both parents worked full time, but wished my mom was a SAHM sometimes although would have translated into part time.

She said recently that she wished she had chosen a more flexible job, but not sure it was recognised as such in the 80s...

crosser62 · 30/08/2020 18:32

My dad was in the military. No pride, just DV & alcoholism.
My mum was a sahp for most of my younger years then working in a factory from me being 11ish.
It was at that point I was the sahp doing all the household chores and caring for 3 ypunger siblings.
Don’t recall pride there either

Yellredder · 30/08/2020 18:35

Can't say as i was particularly proud of their jobs - they just had jobs!

ExtremelyBoldSquirrels · 30/08/2020 18:36

I didn’t give it any thought really. Until you had to figure out how to say them in French at high school. My mum was easy (she was a teacher) but quantity surveyor wasn’t on the lists we were given.

I don’t think my kids give a stuff what my job is.

Sayitagainwhydontyou · 30/08/2020 18:37

I was (and am) incredibly proud of both of my parents - they're doctors. I was pretty much the only one of my friends to not have a SAHM and i remember clearly at about age 7 wondering what on earth my friends' mums did all day! I still wonder that about SAHMs of school-age kids tbh.

Wbeezer · 30/08/2020 18:39

My Dad was the local GP, which was almost like being a bit famous in the boring old seventies, wr definitely had a bit of status by association and were expected ti be "clever" . My mother was a SAHP but she was well educated and knew about everything and was good at lots of things so i did not think less of her at the time.

lifesalongsong · 30/08/2020 18:43

@ExtremelyBoldSquirrels

I don’t think my kids give a stuff what my job is.

Same here, it's not something I ever thought about and I'm pretty sure my DC don't have any proud feelings about what I do or how hard I work.

pinkmagic1 · 30/08/2020 18:43

My dad was a graphic designer and my mum worked part time as a bank cashier. Didn't give it much thought tbh.

NothingIsWrong · 30/08/2020 18:45

My Mum was the chief exec of a housing association, worked her way all the way up from the bottom, and my Dad was a uni lecturer, after he'd done 27 years in the steelworks as an engineer. Very proud of both of them and they definitely taught me that you can have a career and be a parent. As the eldest I picked up a bit of slack at home. I learnt to cook in self defence!

BikeTyson · 30/08/2020 18:46

SAHM plus doctor dad. I was completely indifferent to both tbh, I’m not sure most children give a shit. I’m always a bit skeptical about the people on X factor etc who “just want to make my children proud of me”; I’m sure they’d be just as proud if they were doing a normal job.

PineappleUpsideDownCake · 30/08/2020 18:46

Loved that my mum was a sahp. Didnt really know what my dad did other than the building he worked in 🤣.

Kids love having me home and the bits of part time work I do. They are relieved they dont have to do childcare after school. They seem to think we're both clever but that may change in a year or two when they hit teens.

Yankathebear · 30/08/2020 18:47

I was proud of both. My mum was a sahm for parts of my childhood. I thought she was strong. We don’t get on now but I still think she was strong.

HelloMissus · 30/08/2020 18:47

I know my kids are extremely proud of my job - but it’s a fancy sounding job in telly so......

MsTSwift · 30/08/2020 18:47

Dad was a senior teacher at my own school which was frankly utterly mortifying. Mum teacher too.

Loved my parents they are great but as a self absorbed teen their jobs were of little interest to me tbh. I haven’t become a teacher

BertieBotts · 30/08/2020 18:48

No not really. My mum didn't have a job for most of my childhood (although I did proudly tell people she used to work at insert local tourist attraction, which I thought was cool!) and I never really had a clue what my dad did.

Arrowcat · 30/08/2020 18:49

Both my parents were teachers. I never really thought much of it however they both died young and now I look back and see they committed their lives to try to improve young inner city kids lives and I'm very proud of them.
My daughter is 3 and proud of me and her father - although what I do is more easily recognisable for a 3 year old to be proud of.

Aunty5ocial · 30/08/2020 18:50

DM was a mobile hairdresser. She worked hard and I wished she'd been less stressed and at home more. DF was a builder. As I got older I was a bit embarressed when he would collect me from ballet classes in his work clothes and van.

lazylinguist · 30/08/2020 18:52

It wouldn't have remotely occurred to me to be proud of my parents' jobs tbh. My mum was a secretary for an estate agent and my dad was a manager in a big I.T. company. My mum had some fairly amusing stories about customers and colleagues but neither job appealed to me or seemed interesting or impressive.

Dh and I are both teachers (dh at our dc's school, and I've taught both my dc in the past). They aren't mortified by that at all, but both think teaching is a job they'd never want to do!

baumwolle · 30/08/2020 18:53

I certainly wasn't embarrassed of either, or anything like that, but I don't think I would say I was proud - their jobs were just accepted facts of life!

Adwodeabo · 30/08/2020 18:53

There were a lot more SAHMs around, especially in working class communities. It was less of a stigma back then. My dad was out of work which was so common in ex industrial communities that it carried no stigma. It only became a stigma when I reached university age and began to mix with people who didn’t come from that background.

latticechaos · 30/08/2020 18:53

@ExtremelyBoldSquirrels

I don’t think my kids give a stuff what my job is.

Haha yes, same about translating.

My kids also don't care about my job, I am sure.

ilovemydogandmrobama2 · 30/08/2020 18:56

Aunty - One of DD's friends at ballet picks her up from ballet, and she is embarrassed. DD said it's really cool to have a builder as a dad, as she wished her dad was a builder as there is so much work needing to be done

moveandmove · 30/08/2020 18:57

I'm not sure kids think like that. I knew what my parents jobs were but would never think to be proud or not of them.

HeronLanyon · 30/08/2020 18:57

Yes I was proud. Both parents worked - both professional occupations.

Became prouder as I got older, of my mum as I realised how hard she worked to bring up kids at the same time and being a bit of a trailblazer for women in her profession.

Of my dad as I realised how much he helped and worked in the home and for us kids rather contrary to a lot of my friends’ dads who did far less.

The more o think about it they were incredibly supportive of each other and of us kids.

RIP mum and dad. (Sorry felt I had to say that - miss them a lot every day - glad I had them)

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