Stay-at-Home Mom. Can You Re-phrase That?
Let me just say straight off that I resent the term “stay-at-home mom” and “stay-at-home dad.” For a couple of reasons.
First, do we really stay-at-home? Are we some kind of business shut-ins, who cower under our covers, refusing to face the world? No.
Well, OK, that usually describes me until about 6 a.m., but eventually, after a few stiff shots of coffee and a couple dabs of makeup, I’m ready to meet customers, lunch with potential clients, mix it up with vendors, and haggle with suppliers.
Stay-at-home mom to me is like calling Beach Boy Brian Wilson a stay-at-home musician. I mean, that boy had a few more problems than a desire to transcend the corporate treadmill, right?
There’s also the subtext of the term that I find disturbing. I believe when my husband tells his friends, “My wife is a stay-at-home mom.” They hear: “My wife is a kept woman.”
Fortunately my husband never uses that terminology when he refers to me anymore because he’s an understanding guy and he has no wish to sing falsetto for an extended period of time.
So, you can call me a lot of things, and most people who encounter my erratic driving on the highway are very colorful with their descriptions, but stay-at-home mom… well, thems fightin’ words.
–Stella, your favorite stay-at-home curmudgeon
�
July 17th, 2008 at 5:01 am
I hate that term too. But I hate work-at-home mom even more. Both give the connotation that because you’re at home, you are less committed.
So what that I work from an office that happens to be in my home? It doesn’t mean I am sitting around, eating Bon-bons and watching my kids while I try to do a couple of odd-jobs!
July 17th, 2008 at 9:43 pm
Oh I can’t agree more with this topic and Shannon as well! The other term I hate is “work at home mom.” People don’t understand that because you work from home and you’re a mother, you do just as much work (if not more) than someone who goes to the office every day.
When you say “work at home mom” no one realizes that your job actually entails being a wife, mother, child care provider, cleaning lady, chef, entrepreneur, and successful business woman — all in a days work!
September 19th, 2011 at 11:32 pm
Hello! This is kind of off topic but I need some guidance from an established blog. Is it very hard to set up your own blog? I’m not very techincal but I can figure things out pretty quick. I’m thinking about setting up my own but I’m not sure where to start. Do you have any ideas or suggestions? With thanks
January 29th, 2012 at 7:46 pm
What i don’t realize is in truth how you’re not actually much more smartly-preferred than you might be now. You’re very intelligent. You already know thus considerably on the subject of this topic, made me for my part consider it from so many various angles. Its like women and men are not involved except it’s something to do with Lady gaga! Your individual stuffs excellent. At all times care for it up!