What I love about/ my life as a

[gillybeanz]

Ok, for the sake of peace and harmony.
I thought this might make wohp understand a litle bit more.

I love that I don't have to pay a fortune in childcare
I love that I never missed any milestones with my DC
I love that I have time to help with homework
I love that if DC is sick, I can look after them myself.

But I do feel challenged at home (& before you assume me a dullard, I have a degree and a fairly high IQ). I find intellectual stimulation at home can be found, whereas if your job is kind of shite, you can't do much about that.

I'm not career-minded, nor competitive, and the office politics one has to play to get promoted & caring about naff projects ... can't be arsed. At home I'm invested and enjoyed finding books for the kids, seeing their growth was something I found very interesting. The whole field of pedagogy is fascinating!

I like people but am an introvert so being at home allowed me to recharge too.

I used my brain when I was at home, there was always something to consider either for the business or family.

I planned lots of activities when they were little as didn't use nurseries or pre school. They weren't so wide spread when our older (grown up now) dc were little.

I used to get together with other sahm's so kids could socialise.
I loved the fact that I was free to support the dc with their hobbies and interests.

You can't really dictate your hours in many jobs, or just say I can't come in tomorrow as one of the dc need to be somewhere during your working hours. This was the best opportunity to be able to do what they wanted.
The kids liked the idea of flexi school and when this wasn't possible H.ed.

My kids were always asking me interesting questions about the world, too. From why does that dragon (Welsh) look different than that (Chinese) dragon, to why don't men have boobs, to why does the sun rise over there, to ...

My colleagues, however, tend to say things like "where did we store those files" & "is it f9 or f3 to access the survey field". That kind of talk does not set me on fire (& in the lunchroom if I ask what they think about the election or the economy or a new discovery in healthcare, they look nervous and go back to talking about spending the weekend hosing off their deck - deck-hosing being a source of endless fascination in my staff-room).

No stupid appraisals, petty office politics or boring meetings. I was part time after ds1 was born for a year (after mat leave) so have done both. Part time was quite good but I hated having to juggle things if ds was ill.
So as sahm I love
Being own boss
Can be spontaneous
Get chores done during week so no food shopping or laundry at weekends ever
Lots of time with kids which they also like
Will be able to drop off and pick up ds1 from school every day when he starts
Will be able to have lots of 1-1 time with ds2 from September
Flexible about appointments
Dh self employed and works away a lot so I can facilitate that, be flexible about days off and holidays
Can facilitate ds seeing their cousins every week
Outside all summer
Go out to different places all the time - parks, beaches, museums, galleries. Hoping to add sports events and theatre when ds2 is old enough!
Of course I get frustrated at times, I try to be quite frugal and don't get much time or money for myself but overall this works for my family just now.

Gosh yes to no stypid appraisals!!! Kids appreciate your effort and don't get their jollies out of looking for the negative in every situation (unlike my supervisors).

The autonomy was worth its weight in gold too. At work I have little to no choice as in to what I do nor when I get it done. When I was a SAHM I had almost full autonomy (taking into account things like timing of playgroups, and that I liked the kids to have a pretty solid routine with regard to meals).

It suits us and (on a good day) I love it. I didn't choose to be a SAHM and I hated it for years, for me it was either a case of playing the hand I'd been given and turning it into something that was good or staying bitter and angry, which was pointless.

DH is pretty relaxed about things, he has worked extremely long hours for the last few years so wherever possible I look after everything school/house/bill/money related, I guess I would think differently if he was controlling.

I love the autonomy, the fact that we can do things based on the weather, house work can be saved for rainy days. I love the fact that I can stop and study anything that interests me. I get to choose who I spend time with, annoying people can easily be avoided!

Not really a smug thread as, IMO anyway, there are plenty of downsides to being a SAHM. This thread just isn't about that side of it.

Hi, I know this is an older thread but it peaked my interest. I am currently on 12 months maternity leave; I've worked full time for ten years and worked through my studies prior to this. I've always worked so being at home for so long (DS is now 8 months old) has been a major shock to the system! I'm thinking about not returning to work after maternity. Me and DH are thinking I will be a SAHM while we grow our family and I will get a part time term time job once they are in nursery/school. We have arrived to this decision because we have no child care, no family support. I also do not want to leave DS with strangers until he can understand what is going on and can talk back. The cost of child care would leave little profit from my wage after travel etc. The time to get to and from my place of work would also make things impossible. I realise some people don't get the choice and I'm lucky I do. Things are financially tight but we can manage on DH wage with some cuts.

WildNightsWithAndyDay said earlier:

'I'm a sahm through necessity (ds1 has SN). I miss being at work and being spoken to like an adult. I obviously enjoy being available for dc's. If I could still WOHM I would feel guilty about not being available for dc's and if (like for most people) WOHM isn't an option I probably would find sahm's irritating.'

I actually get more sense out of my 8 month old than I did out of some adults at work. They didn't talk to you like adults and spoke to you like children so unlike PP WildNightsWithAndyDay I do not have the same experience. The negative attitudes within my work place and the way they treated me through my pregnancy has made my decision to leave a lot easier. I can't guarantee I won't apply for a part time job sooner but for now Im very happy with my decision. Any negatives of being a SAHM are soon forgotten about when I cast my mind back to how I felt at work and how undervalued I was. Every time mum DS smiles at me I feel like the luckiest Mam in the entire world and can see how much value I have to him.