SAHM's...do you have 'job satisfaction'?

[DetentionGrrrl]

I'm curious as to whether SAHM's enjoy their work, and get a thrill out of completing tasks etc.

DP said i was a very good wifey the other day because i'd made him lunch for work and ironed some shirts for him. I had a little warm feeling...then thought dear god, where's my feminist feeling gone?!

I don't get as much satisfaction from putting the dishwasher on as i did say, training new staff in my 'proper' job, but sometimes, i think it's not so bad being a wifey instead.

I find "job satisfaction" a bit of a wonky concept, but I love my life and think what I do is worthwhile, if that's what you mean.

Not sure about being a "wifey" though. I think your OP is a little...... confused.

I'm shit at being a SAHM so no I don't

i don't think my OP was confused- 'wifey' as in 'housewife'

which is no different to being a SAHM to me.

i absolutely do see my role of bringing ds up as a full time job

that doesn't necessarily include chores, btw. am lucky in that am able to outsource much of them

it's harder to feel job satisfaction ime - i have no performance plan or quarterly reviews and rarely am i told i'm doing a good job (or otherwise)

i know i'm doing a better job at this job than my previous (paid) jobs - but it was in those that i had the bonuses, pay rises, rewards and recognition

many of them

yes you are the sock fairy, and the underpant fairy too

twinkle twinkle

DH once told me that he didn't do toilets! Can you believe it? And he hasn't. Not once.

funny. i regard the housework and cooking as work, but looking after my dd fun and fulfilling.

m pmsl-dd just said does SAHM mean sat at home mum?
Cheeky bint!

and to answer th op -no I have no job satisfaction...at all!!!!

It is a very rewarding 'job' being at home with ds in those precious early years, but god it is hard work, by far the hardest job i have ever done...has the longest hours, no lunch break and no clocking off time either..

rewarding yes, hard work ..very much so. I am grateful for being able to be a sahm, though I do work in an office one day a week and call this 'my day off'

No, I hate it. A lot of that has to do with having PTSD. Although truth to tell, even without that I think I would enjoy it more if ds was a little older (he's 1). I have always liked older kids, it's a lot more fun.

Also I had a lot of post-birth problems and am still sore and limited in what I can do, so I feel really "trapped". I don't have much choice but to be here. I used to have a very mentally challenging job, and looking after a baby isn't all that mentally stimulating. I think I would love it if I worked even 1 or 2 days a week to get the neurons firing again. I feel so out of touch with the world.

Just want to ask: do any of you get paid a wage by your dh/ dp for the work you do bringing up your dc's?

Detentiongirl - I'm not a sahm unfortunately as I have to work f/t, but do get satisfaction from getting stuff done around the house. One of my fave things is hanging washing in the garden on a sunny summer morning - sad but true. I imagine myself as an Italian Mama LOL! hanging her kids clothes out in the sun and love the thought that it will all be dry by the end of the day!

Perhaps if I did it full time I wouldn't enjoy it so much though....the grass is always greener isn't it?

bellarosa n answer to your question -
no I don't get paid a wage lol! DH and I share out whatever is left after everything has been paid for and call it our pocket money, the kids get allocated some too (which I look after and decide how it is spent)

My sahm-satisfaction comes in all different ways.

-if I'm on top of the washing I'm satisfied.

-if I have cooked a healthy tasty meal for us all.

-If I have done well on the household budget (enough for shopping, bills, the odd treat etc)

-when I unexpectantly catch a glimps of my kids happily spending time with each other at home.

-when I kiss them goodnight when they are sleeping, knowing we will have more fun all over again tomorrow.

but mostly because although a childcare could care for them, my dh and I are the only people in the world who is able to offer them real emotional nurturing.

These are just a handful of the millions of reasons why I would move house, sell all of my posessions, give up holidays, not have a car etc. -if that is what it would take to be a sahm.

I knew none of this before I tried it.

call me sad if you like! call me a prostitute (not mentioning any names!!)

I just love it (and so do dh and the kids)

Yes, I do. I wonder if it is because Im an older Mum thought. You know, Ive got all the career out of the way and quite frankly enjoy organising the family and home like a business really.
I wont deny the routine can be a little tedious, but Im in control so when it gets boring I chuck another activity in for a bit of variety.

job satisfaction? let me think - dh going to work early til late tomorrow - dd at school all day - what shall I do all day.... i know mn!!!

SAHM = the job is looking after the DCs. All the rest of the shitwork (dishes, cooking, shopping, laundry, bin emptying, lawnmowing etc) is stuff that has to be done, more or less, in anyone's home, whether or not there are small children there. A single adult living alone still has to eat and do laundry, even if that means phoning for pizza and lugging the bags down to the laundrette.
So this is where it becomes unreasonable for a WOHP to refuse to do any of the house shitwork because the WOHP does "work" 5 days a week. The SAHP, who gets the subsistence wage, should at least get one of the two weekend days off to do stuff purely for his/her own enjoyment.
Of course, the other great myth is that living in a messy home somehow indicates moral failings. As long as the place doesn't reek of rotting rubbish and have a major vermin problem, a little mess won't kill you, and there are always more intersting and important things to do than dust skirting boards.

HAving DD was easily the best thing Ive ever done in my life. I love being with her, but... Im crap at doing all the sh*t work that comes with that (cleaning the bathroom, emptying the bins). I like 2 pieces of housework- cooking, I do get satisfaction from that, and washing (if its a sunny day).

As someone else said, I really miss that weekend feeling, and I`m going back part time in May. But on the whole, I would say that being a SAHM is a very satisfying way to live my life.