from The Matt Walsh Blog
It’s happened twice in a week, and they were both women. Anyone ought to have more class than this, but women — especially women — should damn well know better.
Last week, I was at the pharmacy and a friendly lady approached me.
“Matt! How are those little ones doing?”
“Great! They’re doing very well, thanks for asking.”
“Good to hear. How ’bout your wife? Is she back at work yet?”
“Well she’s working hard at home, taking care of the kids. But she’s not going back into the workforce, if that’s what you mean.”
“Oh fun! That must be nice!”
“Fun? It’s a lot of hard work. Rewarding, yes. Fun? Not always.”
This one wasn’t in-your-face. It was only quietly presumptuous and subversively condescending.
The next incident occurred today at the coffee shop. It started in similar fashion; a friendly exchange about how things are coming along with the babies. The conversation quickly derailed when the woman hit me with this:
“So is your wife staying at home permanently?”
“Permanently? Well, for the foreseeable future she will be raising the kids full time, yes.”
“Yeah, mine is 14 now. But I’ve had a career the whole time as well. I can’t imagine being a stay at home mom. I would get so antsy. [Giggles] What does she DO all day?”
“Oh, just absolutely everything. What do you do all day?”
“…Me? Ha! I WORK!”
“My wife never stops working. Meanwhile, it’s the middle of the afternoon and we’re both at a coffee shop. I’m sure my wife would love to have time to sit down and drink a coffee. It’s nice to get a break, isn’t it?”
The conversation ended less amicably than it began.
Look, I don’t cast aspersions on women who work outside of the home…..Read more here.
Hooray! Someone who realizes some of the difficulties that stay-at-home moms go through.Don’t forget adding home-schooling in there where applicable. At last someone who realizes that we don’t do this for our own gratification or pleasure, but for the good of souls and society in general. Thank you, thank you!!!
I feel like an oddball when I tell anyone who asks that I love being at home with my boys and could never picture myself away from them. They are my three special gifts from God; why would I want to part from them when God granted me this great privilege of taken care of three souls He created and gave to me? It may be a lot of work, but I have found it to be a much greater gift and I thank God that He has allowed my husband to take care of us so that I am able to be a stay-at-home mom.
I feel the same way, Michelle. I am SO grateful to have been able to stay at home! And I am grateful that hubby has been willing to work hard to keep it that way. And there have been some rough times! 🙂
One thing that made this article particularly potent is because it was written by a man!
At last someone who understands why we stay or have stayed at home all these years! Now that my sons are grown, I am still at home as my husband is somewhat disabled. But even if he were still able to go out and work at a job, he says he likes that I am home and I still have lots to do, believe me! We have quite a few grandchildren now and none(not one) live anywhere near. In fact they live on both coasts and north of us! If we are to see them sometimes, having an outside job would seriously impinge that!
It’s a beautiful thing for your husband to want you at home. 🙂 And there is always lots to do, isn’t there?
When my first child was born, I quickly realized that going to work at an office was simply not an option anymore. I have been a SAHM for two years now, and I love serving my family this way. Of course I miss the work I used to do, but the work I do now is much more important and rewarding. Plus, my kids are generally quite fun to be around. Except when they’re not, but that’s another story!
What a nice article. I wish my husband thought the same way. He thinks I should be grateful that I can stay home most of the time, and he thinks that families who have two incomes, or the potential to have two incomes, have more security. He thinks that families where the mother has no outside usable skill are skating on thin ice. But his dad died suddenly when he was 10, so I guess everyone has a different perspective.
Leane! You are absolutely RIGHT! Having husband who WANTS you at home is romantic, caring and sweet and is one of the most romantic things my husband has ever done!
He wants me and only me with his most precious assets! That is one heck of compliment from a man like my hub!