by Robin Tidwell

Created on: January 02, 2011   Last Updated: January 04, 2011

Being a stay-at-home mom has, in recent decades, often been seen as a lazy woman’s way out of the workforce.  This is far, far from the truth.

Stay-at-home moms, those who choose this avocation, are nominally responsible for all the aspects of day-to-day living: child-raising, food shopping and preparation, keeping the home fires burning, and the scheduling of all family members.  While no degree is required, it couldn’t hurt to be well-versed and experienced in all matters pertaining to these things; if one doesn’t initially have experience, it will certainly be quickly acquired!

While those who go out to work usually do so for an 8- or 10-hour shift, stay-at-home moms frequently labor from sunrise until long past sunset.  The old adage, “A woman’s work is never done” still holds true from the days before modern conveniences.

If a stay-at-home mom arises an hour before her offspring, she may have this time for herself unless, of course, something didn’t quite get completed the day before.  Once the kids are off to school, if no little ones are left behind, she may be able to shower and dress and even glance at a newspaper.  If siblings are too young for preschool, she will have been better off to dress before the children are awake, and forgo that “extra” early-morning hour of peace.

There are breakfasts to be cooked and served, dishes to be done, undoubtedly laundry on an almost-daily basis; the house must be straightened and picked up, there may be things to find, things to organize, and shopping to be accomplished.  All of this, sometimes, with small children dogging her footsteps.  By lunchtime, the feeding and kitchen processes all repeat, and if her children still nap, she might have time for a few phone calls.

All of this, of course, is assuming no one is ill or has a doctor or dentist appointment, or that it’s not a snow day for the school-age children.

By afternoon, still completing and repeating tasks, a stay-at-home mom is often eagerly anticipating the arrival of her spouse just so she can speak to an adult.  The children come home from school, snacks are prepared, homework is supervised, and it’s back to the kitchen for dinner. 

Even later, as her spouse watches TV or plays with the children, a stay-at-home mom is still finishing laundry, doing dishes, getting clothes and backpacks ready for the next morning.  Her day doesn’t end till all the kids are tucked in for the night.

Nowhere in this scenario is a woman lying on the couch, eating bonbons and watching soap operas; in this world, a stay-at-home mom is not shopping until she drops or lunching every day with “the girls”.  Being a stay-at-home mom doesn’t mean she’s available to take calls or run errands for everyone else and, myth versus reality: this is one tough job, and surely not for the faint of heart.

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