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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

The lost art of being a housewife....

42 replies

Timeforabiscuit · 02/12/2018 16:47

So I quit my job, don't have one to go to - dh absolutely fully behind me leaving and trying a new career direction after some serious down time. Can live on dhs salary just fine indefinitely, done the budget, also have savings.

I'm only applying for jobs which strongly interest me - I am scrupulously consciencious and want a pension so will be going back into the job market - but its on my terms.

I am so bloody lucky to be in this position, I've always worked and it will be fleeting.....

So my question is - if you had 6 months down time, what would you learn to do?

OP posts:
ElainaElephant · 02/12/2018 16:51

The same stuff that I would learn to do while working Tbh...

Currently learning a language and doing a creativity course.

Original poster
Timeforabiscuit · 02/12/2018 16:55

Ohh which creative course are you doing? I read tonnes, but can't tell stories for toffee but would love to be able to write.

I suppose im asking because I know there are lots of skills involved in running a household, which are possibly a bit redundant now?

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NymanPerkins · 02/12/2018 16:55

Ditto Elaina

But if I didn’t have to work I could do the phd I’ve been planning. I wouldn’t see dh for 3 years, but it’d be worth it!

Original poster
Timeforabiscuit · 02/12/2018 16:57

A major reason for me leaving my job is because its just not giving space for the rest of my life, its become a very unhealthy part of my identity - and I know if I didnt make a change, change would happen to me instead.

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Original poster
Timeforabiscuit · 02/12/2018 17:00

Already completed a Masters - could write up the dissertation.

I know a lady at work fitting her phd around work, shes incredibly focused!

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NotyourMummynotyourmilk · 02/12/2018 17:03

If I were you, I would learn to sew, I would do a DIY course and maybe a gardening course. All of these things are useful as a housewife but very interesting too.

BlueJava · 02/12/2018 17:06

How have you completed your Masters if you still have the dissertation to do? Why not complete that?

Original poster
Timeforabiscuit · 02/12/2018 17:07

You know what, learning to sew would be ace, ive always wanted to be able to mend and make do - I think I watched way too much of the goodlife when younger, and then turned into a grumpy hardened cynic!

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LRDtheFeministDragon · 02/12/2018 17:10

I'd probably do some feminist activism.

I'm currently unemployed and trying to finish writing a book while looking after DD, if that counts. But I need to get the book done to get a job. If I had free choice, I genuinely would like to do something that'd actually make a difference to women's lives. Maybe getting men learning the 'art' of being a 'housewife' wouldn't actually be a bad start.

BabiesComeWithHats · 02/12/2018 17:11

Well in terms of 'housewife' skills I would
• love to learn a few really cool chef techniques - filleting fish, proper classic sauces, pastry skills etc. In my current lifetime I can't imagine when I'd need them but would be fun to learn
• I can't sew for toffee. Don't think I'd bother though!
• Tiling, painting and decorating etc would be amazing to be able to do myself if I had the time to finish the house
• Gardening. Not a clue. It's a wasteland out there!

But I would probably want to actually learn French and get a sporting qualification that relates to my hobby

Original poster
Timeforabiscuit · 02/12/2018 17:12

Sorry - have completed the Masters, and my tutor said dissertaion was good enough for journal publication and she'd happily co-author/support, but i had nothing left in the tank to push it.

Finished it 12 months ago, so would need to re-do the literature searches.

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Santasushi · 02/12/2018 17:15

If I had 6 months off I would run away to St Ives and do a art retreat. Or maybe yoga.
Fuck being a housewife.

DSHathawayGivesMeFannyGallops · 02/12/2018 17:15

I had 3 months off at the start of the year. I had a big catch up on all my life admin & learnt to sew. I learnt other things too!

TimeWoundsAllHeals · 02/12/2018 17:16

At the moment I’m trying to learn calculus and it’s applications in complexity science.

Today specifically I was reading about the applications of Bose-Einstein statistics in networks/graph theory. I didn’t understand a word of it tbh (well no the words were fine it was the equations I struggled with). I’m working on it though.

In the new year I’ll be starting a (2nd) BSc in Maths and Stats.

Original poster
Timeforabiscuit · 02/12/2018 17:16

Painting! Slaps forehead, havent decorated since we moved in,!

Really happy doing diy, fixing stuff is my domain! I can do manual stuff fine, but can't do the decorative part (dh handles interior design)

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AHeartAPenny · 02/12/2018 17:16

I'd learn cabinet making / furniture making. Also maybe some basic electrician/ plumbing courses.

Ted27 · 02/12/2018 17:16

As you mention housewifely skills, and as you have already given up work so may have missed the opportunity to enrol on courses, I think I would learn to cook, properly.

I was lucky enough to have two years time out when I was 40 but I spent a year planning it, so it was all in place before I left. I spent six months travelling and went back to university full time to do a masters.

Due to a family situation I may be taking a year career break from May/June time. Money will be tight and I will have two challenging teenagers but will have time when they are at school so I plan to train for a half marathon so get properly fit, spend a lot of time down the allotment, learn to make preserves to deal with the vast quantities of black and red currents that go to waste at the moment and just do all the piddly jobs round the house that I never get round to ( like sort out my now largely redundant shoe collection)
6 months sounds like a long time when you are the beginning but it will really fly by, so I would get a plan in place soon,
Have fun whatever you do

JustHereForThePooStories · 02/12/2018 17:18

Some courses I did over the past few years (not intensely, as had to work them around work):

Pottery
Advanced German
Linux programming
Sourdough baking

Original poster
Timeforabiscuit · 02/12/2018 17:18

santasushi pembrokeshire in winter maybe, but ive got kids and I think that might be pushing it!

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ohplop · 02/12/2018 17:18

Ooh I would do cookery courses, creative writing, start a blog (6 months of being a housewife).

I'd go the cinema every week, take up walking, run a marathon, do the three peaks.

I'd tell everyone I was still working so they wouldn't keep wanting me to help them for free.

Original poster
Timeforabiscuit · 02/12/2018 17:20

ted27 thanks that's really good advice!

I think I should have posted earlier about this, but assumed id get ripped to shreds for not working, abandoning principals of feminism and not standing on my own two feet.

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Original poster
Timeforabiscuit · 02/12/2018 17:23

These are brilliant by the way, thank you!

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Miscible · 02/12/2018 17:23

I don't think I'd do housewife stuff, mainly because I have no interest in it. I'd probably do a course to improve my IT skills, maybe also a language, and I might just look at something on basic DIY/electrics/plumbing.

dementedma · 02/12/2018 17:24

i would go and live on the Orkney islands for 6 months and go beachcombing, write, walk, and just enjoy being alone.

Santasushi · 02/12/2018 17:26

@Timeforabiscuit they won’t notice Wink