Nope, not in my lifetime and I'm in my early 40s. She was educated as a teacher in the motherland and stopped working after she got married. She also immigrated to the US and had me within a year of getting married and her work life was over. I do remember her taking some typing and other secretarial classes at night school when I was maybe 4 or 5. Maybe she and my dad talked about her trying to find a job in American society. She had my sibling a few years later and she remained a SAHM. Her friends here also from the motherland are a mixed group. Some did work after the kids were a little older in jobs like childcare or front desk reception or sales associate type stuff, some just remained SAH like her. A few of the women were professionals like physicians and they worked the entire time since they got here.
Post by basilosaurus on Jan 29, 2022 14:04:05 GMT -5
My maternal grandmother also worked. She did something for the state, not sure what. She became a single mom when my mom was an infant, and I get the impression my grandfather had nothing to do with them.
My MIL also worked. Everything from oil rig to factory manager to eventually lawyer. She was pregnant at 18 with my BIL, but she eventually got her degrees. She was in law school when my partner was in college.
My husband is in a related/adjacent industry and apparently my mother's name still comes up in conversations by professionals occasionally, which is just wild to me.
Post by notsopicky on Jan 29, 2022 14:08:46 GMT -5
late 40s here. My mom stayed home with me/us until I was 7 (my brother was 3) and she then went back to work FT (I think she had to b/c my dad had lost his job). She was a teacher (elementary then art), a business teacher at an evening school for adults, an "interior designer" (at a local small business that had a shop, she pretty much ran said shop), an art college recruiter, a curriculum designer at an art supply company, and then an art gallery curator, museum docent manager, and museum education director.
She's been semi-retired since she's been in her mid 50s (she's 73). The last 2 "jobs" she had were very very PT, and in some iterations, was a volunteer. I can retire in 5 years (at 53). It's kind of trippy thinking that I'll be retired in 5 years w/ a full pension (I'll bring home more money retired than I do working b/c of the way the taxes & deductions work).
ETA: all of my friends' moms worked outside the home except for my BFF's. Her dad was the fire chief, so she supported him in that role (I guess there was a lot of community-facing things for her mom to do).
Yes, she always worked outside the home as a clinical psychologist. I'm 40, and it was very much not the norm for moms of younger children to work where I grew up, and I've always been impressed that she didn't bend to that cultural pressure to SAH when she didn't want to.
My mom is an archeologist. When she wasn’t on digs, she was a college professor. When my parents divorced, she became a high school honors history teacher, dropped to teaching one college class a semester,and went on digs during the summer breaks.
I’m 42.
I have very few friends who SAH. Those that are, have 2 or more children and are married to someone with an intense, time consuming career which was a factor in their SAH decision.
Growing up, my friends had a mix of moms that worked or stayed home. I grew up in a town with a large well respected university and a lot of parents were part of the medical residency/fellowship programs there. Those friends typically had either both parents there or one. If it was one parent, the other usually stayed home.
When I lived abroad, very few of my friends had mothers that worked outside the home.
Yep! She was an executive in banking. I’m still amazed at the level she was at by 30. She did move to consulting and more part time hours when I was born (youngest), but was still the breadwinner.
I essentially followed in her footsteps but haven’t managed as many people as her.
My mom was a SAHM until I was 13. She volunteered at the school and Girl Scouts. She worked in a factory for a few years and also a plant nursery. Then she went to school to be a physical therapy assistant. She got a part time paraprofessional school job and also did PT part time until she retired.
My mom worked full time and switched to part time at some point when I was a kid, because my dad was useless around the house and she just couldn’t balance full time work anymore. She never talked much about work, and it wasn’t until after she died that I found out she was super well liked in her office and well respected in her field. One of her coworkers sent a huge stack of research she had published that we had no idea about.
I'm in my 40s. My mom stayed home until I started kindergarten (I'm the youngest) and then went back to school. After she finished school, she became a CPA and worked full time. Most of my friends' moms also worked.
I read this and smiled thinking, "oh that's so neat, I doubt I could remember --" and then my mom's work # (that I would call upon arriving home) popped immediately into my head. So crazy!
So to answer the OP, yes, my mom worked in an office. It was never an option for me nor any of the kids I grew up with to afford to have a parent at home. Until I went to HS, I thought that was a fake TV thing or at very least only for the insanely wealthy (just because I assumed we were "normal" since it was all I knew.).
I’m 45. My mom was a 3rd grade teacher until I was born. When I was in either 7th or 8th grade, she took a part time preschool teaching position at a small preschool. 3 days a week. She had a morning and afternoon class. She resigned/retired a couple years after I graduated college.
Post by hbomdiggity on Jan 29, 2022 15:23:00 GMT -5
My mom would probably consider herself a SAHM, but she did dabble in some part time work. She was a secretary for my dad (pretty sure unpaid) and retail at a department store. I’m the youngest (41) and she didn’t work until I was middle school-ish. My best friends moms growing up were a RN and a psychologist.
MIL is like 10years younger than my mom and she worked full time as a paralegal.
Post by DotAndBuzz on Jan 29, 2022 15:27:24 GMT -5
Yes
I'm 42 (thought I was 43 a few weeks ago...oops!). She cut back from full time teacher when I was born, and worked part time as a tutor until I was maybe 11? I think that's when my sister started kindergarten, so she went back to work full time then, as a teacher, and remained full time until she retired.
I'll be 44 in March and my mom worked in elementary education (teacher/administrator) before I was born and then after I was 5 until she retired at 60. (ETA: My brother is almost 8 years younger and she worked when he was a baby as a daycare director, then went back to schools when he went to kindergarten.)
She also got two master's degrees while I was growing up.
Post by penguingrrl on Jan 29, 2022 15:28:32 GMT -5
My mom always worked. She has a degree in architecture but never got licensed. She finished her degree after my dad left and couldn’t afford to work for pennies while pursuing licensure. Instead she started her own interior design firm, which she still has.
Most of my friends had SAHMs when we were in elementary and middle school, but as my friends and/or their siblings got older their moms returned to work, either in previous careers or new. One family friend used skills honed working with the PTO as President to build a career in marketing.
I was home due to childcare costs until my youngest was in K and finally went back full time this year after building more part time hours in each year. My town mostly has SAHMs (and a few dads) with maybe half returning to work as their kids get older. I’m definitely the minority for working full time. I’m also happier and more myself than I’ve been in 14 years as I missed my career terribly that entire time.
She stayed home during the day and worked 4-8 a few nights a week when I was little. Once I was in middle school, she worked part time while I was at school. I think she went full time when I was in high school. I am 42 and an only child.
Also, you didn't ask, but my MIL also worked. She was an attorney. She barely even took maternity leave apparently with DH and SIL. They had a nanny. She was in practice with FIL most of the kids' school lives. She's 81.
My grandmother also worked full time. I grew up thinking working moms were the norm.
My maternal grandmother attended college but didn't graduate and did not work. My grandfather is a major reason my mom has such a high work ethic, which is really the opposite stereotype of the fairly traditional WWII generation/child of Italian immigrants he was. It was never a question of if she'd go to college and have a career, and he was as emphatic about it for me and all women. My mother and maternal grandparents were also fairly pioneering I think with the idea that women had their own bank accounts separate from the family. I was raised with the idea that I should always have a substantial nest egg for myself because you just never know.
She went back to work when I (the youngest) was in elementary school. I remember being bummed that she wouldn't be able to come to school parties anymore. She was probably not bummed about that. lol.
She had been a secretary before she stopped working when she had my brother, and went back to work in a secretarial role. But she ended up as the branch manager of her office. She loved working and only retired in her early 70s because her company closed a bunch of offices and hers was one.