Reasons to be happy SAHM's!

[whensmydayoff]

Hi

I am a SAHM and have read a lot of threads lately about the boredum that often comes with the job!
I felt that since my PG hormones are blessing me with a GOOD DAY I should share my reasons to be happy and hopefully cheer you all up.

1. Unless you were a formula one racing driver or TV presenter, were there not days at work when you'd look at the clock and it was 2.30pm then 3 hours later you'd look again and it was 2.40pm !

2. If you tried going back to work, and I did - How horrible was it when your mum/childminder/nursery worker told you about what they had done today for the first time. How horrible was it when your child seemed to prefer them to you?

3. How fast has it went? It will get faster still and you'll look back and be glad you were the one bringing them up, seeing the progress, there for the hugs and funny bits. One day you will wish they were young again and wonder where it all went.

4. Do you have days where you are near tears or actually in tears by time DP/DH gets home? Little horror has upset you/made your day hell. Did nobody ever do that to you at work?

5. We will all be back at work, working with someone we have nothing in common with, clock watching or stressed out our tiny minds and think back to the days when we were pushing our babies/toddlers on the swings or having a relaxing coffee with other mums and wonder what we were moaning about.

Don't get me wrong, I too have found myself so bored that I think I may just stop breathing.
I have had evil thoughts towards Thomas and his friends.
I have stumbled across mums who are less interesting than paint drying and had to endure an hours conversation about sleep problems or weening when that all seems like light years ago to me.
It was just this morning, Im 28 weeks PG. I decided to look through my DS's baby clothes to see what I will keep and wash when it struck me - I can hardly remember him wearing most of them or him being so small. What the hell do you do with a baby anyway!
I came on here and seen more threads from bored SAHM's and just wanted to remind you all how quickly you will not remember these days.
If it didn't cheer you up a bit - It killed 10 minutes reading it! x

smallorange get some more wine safe in the knowledge that you can't be a happy SAHM or WOHM on mnet end of!!!

I have actually enjoyed being a sahm and a wohm and equally been fed up of both so it does happen where's the thread to reflect this ??

I enjoyed being wohm before children.
I enjoyed being sahm after children.
There's probably more to come........

what there needs to be is acceptance of both at different stages of your life. If you have the choice, then obviously that's great. If you don't (either way) then that's quite sad and it would be nice to be supportive of people who find themselves in situations out of their control.

See now Im offended by all the wine - some of us are pregnant, shut up you smug bastards!! Im joking of course - don't want more angry woman on my back!

I agree with all points. My fave situations so far in order... SAHM, p/t WM, f/t WM. Hated using f/t nurseries even though it was a fab one with lovely mature staff. Was fine when my mum had DD but still felt guilty/missing out.
There is good and bad in most situations but for me, having a choice, I decided to take less money and more time at home/with kids but of course took a career dive and some risks.

hee hee! sometimes MN is so grrr!!!! and I get cross with peoples responses, then I read something like whensmydayoff just posted and I remember why I love it!!

I'm not defensive about WOHMS at all - I was genuinely curious to see what was interesting about being a sahm.

From this thread I've learned that the best things about being a sahm is not being a wohm. Which says more about women's working lives than anything else. Four out of the five reasons cited for sahms to be cheerful involved not being wohms. Absolutely tragic commentary on women at work IMO

I'd cite absolutely lots of different reasons to be cheerful about life but none of them would involve not being a sahm.

I don't see how you can take umbrage at the OP. It was intended as a pep talk for SAHMs who might feel - at sometime or other - a bit hemmed in by the routine / understimulated by Andy & Sid's tree collages.

It's perhaps as offensive to imply, 400, that SAHMs are only doing it to escape the dull monotony of their previous paid employment...

IMHE most women with kids think v carefully about what will suit them, their children, their whole family, and makes their decision. I don't think that the OP was trying to start that whole hairy debate again.

"It's perhaps as offensive to imply, 400, that SAHMs are only doing it to escape the dull monotony of their previous paid employment... "

So did you actually read the OP? The point of my posts have been to say that work doesn't have to be like this:

"were there not days at work when you'd look at the clock and it was 2.30pm then 3 hours later you'd look again and it was 2.40pm"

"How horrible was it when your child seemed to prefer them (childcarers) to you?"

"Did nobody ever do that (left you in tears or made your day hell) to you at work?"

"working with someone we have nothing in common with, clock watching or stressed out our tiny minds "

Work simply isn't like that for me and a significant number of other women and I'm truly sorry that it has been like that for anyone, in fact.

Quott, so do you think if a mum or dad loved their job they would never quit to be at home with their children?

Is it not possible to love your job but love staying at home with your children more?

My job is too look after other people's children, where do I fit on this scale?

Yes I do think that some people are genuinely conflicted and stay at home because that is the positive choice and what is right for them and their children.

I'd just like to see more positive reasons to stay at home rather than negative ones, because their work was so boring or horrible.

Have to say I loved my job.
But I didn't feel I was doing it justice just as I didn't feel I was doing the parenting thing justice either.
The parenting thing won out in my case.

Quattrocento. I still don't think you get it.
My post wasn't to prove what is interesting about SAHM's, it was simply to cheer them up and to list some positives.
It was not to compare ourselves to WOHMS - it was listing the things to remind ourselves what IS good about staying at home as opposed to working- very obviously. A BORED and LONELY SAHM will be dwelling on the other side of the grass as im sure works both ways.
I came on here, made a post to cheer up SAHM's who had hit a bit of a low point as we all do (regardless of SAHM or WOHM'S)
and you came on and just verified, yes you are a bunch of boring bastards with nothing to say for yourself and the only reason you might be there is because your jobs must have been worthless, as is your position at the moment.
Congratulations, if they were feeling a little unappreciated and bored, you managed to amplify that feeling.
Im not comparing myself to you, the WOHMS.....I hadn't given WOHMS a thought as there were no threads asking for cheering up from WOHMS. I actaully wasn't thinking.....what a bunch of horrible mums those WOHMS's are, I think I will go onto MN and make them feel bad. I thought, I will direct a thread at SAHM's to make them feel a little more positive.
Has your trained mind grasped it yet?

Some of us WANT to work

If you want to wohm then fine.
If you want to sahm and work fine, too.

Only time it'a not fine is when you don't have the choice.

Crossed posts again.
If 'just being there' isn't positive enough for you then your right, your career will fufill you more

WIMDO - but you weren't listing the things that are good about staying at home. You were just listing the things that were bad (for you) about working. Which is different, no?

DuelingFANGo exactly, and good for you for coming on, being honest and happy with your lot. All that and managing not to slate anyone!

NO. I was saying, we are there for the firsts. We are just there to enjoy them. That is a massive positive for the SAHM's. FGS Quattro, there are loads of obvious good reasons BUT it is bloody hard too. Nobody pats you on the back or gives you a wage rise at home. It can be tough and it's nice to feel appreciated, that's all I was trying to do.

Didn't mean to post so quick.
I was also saying, we all have bad days, regardless of what we do and to remember that.
Everyone has bad days at work, at home. Im just saying over all....the grass isn't always greener.

I read the words written. And the words written never mentioned anything about firsts. They did however mention a lot of stuff about how horrible (your?) work was. Which I'm sorry about.

Still, not worth getting het up about though. I'll accept you meant something entirely different from what you wrote if that will bury the hatchet that seems to have appeared ...

There must be advantages to SAHMing that don't reference back against the world of work?

I clicked on this curious too but most of the OP was so much about working I got confused whether or not she was a SAHM or WOHM. Surely there are SAHMs who don't see it in terms of a comparison.

If this intention is to cheer up bored and lonely SAHMs, not sure how showing other SAHMs that the grass is not greener really helps unless a lot of SAHMs feel bored and lonely because they think the grass is greener?

Doesn't entirely make sense to me.

OK, NO.3 seeing the progress. That's what I meant.
It's not all horrible being at work, as I said earlier, Id have loved best of both and 2 days would have been perfect FOR ME.
I couldn't have that in the job I had and LOVED.
I was simply hoping to hit a note with lots of SAHM's. One of those would have rung a bell with some of them surely and made them think, oh yeh, I could have shit days at work too..
Whatever you do in your life, there are days when you feel low/bored/stressed/fed up, it's natural and it is good to see that no life choice is entirely perfect. It is good to realise that there are lots of shit bits no matter what you do.
Ok, WOHMS - It may be good for you to know that being at home has days where you also can't believe how much time drags.
That you come home from work, a fresh, new and happy face where as if you were at home - they see the good, the bad and the downright ugly!! You will probably have more patience, I know my DH has.
That 2 yr olds banter is pretty poor.
That being at work keeps a little bit of YOU alive.
I could go on for both sides.
I hope a WOHMS starts a thread to celebrate and compare the alternatives to make them feel more positive.
This ones for the SAHM's.