My mom worked part-time as a medical assistant-one or two evenings a week and Saturday mornings...just enough to do something not kid-focused and earn a little extra cash.
I’m 46 and my mom always worked. My dad worked at an accounting company and my mom was at a grocery store until I was like 6 or so. I learned later it was a very good, union employer and she was the breadwinner for the 10 years she was there. They were bought out by a bigger company and had mass layoffs. She worked at a community college in the dining hall for a few years, then went on to manage a local flower shop. Gardening was her passion so it seemed perfect for her but from May (starting with proms and Mothers day) through the summer wedding season the hours were awful. She quit after like 15 years or so and then worked 3 days a week at St. Vincent DePaul Store, organizing and cleaning the donations to sell.
Post by starburst604 on Jan 30, 2022 20:21:16 GMT -5
I’m 46 and my mom didn’t work when I was very young, then did a secretarial job with “mother’s hours” once me and my younger sister were both in school. She also helped do the admin side of my dad’s plumbing business.
My parents separated when I was around 12 and from then on she worked FT until retirement a few years ago.
She did for 3 yrs. She worked at a MDO daycare. My aunt worked there and asked her to work with her because of the number of people who quit. I'm 45 but my oldest sibling is 67.
She was sideswiped and broke several ribs and never went back. My dad hated her working because he said it made him pay more in taxes but he never was great at math over time.
She could sew, cook, and clean anything. Although she was inconsistent on that last one. She always insisted I needed to have a job. She did consider divorce but decided against it because it upset my brother. She might have smoked and drunk less and possibly lived longer but it's impossible to second guess.
My mom has worked her whole life, mostly office jobs. Sometimes she was the sole bread winner. It was more normal for friends’ moms to have professional jobs than be SAHM. My grandma’s generation on the other hand… More common to be SAHM. My grandma’s younger sister is a successful business woman and she was like an oddity. Lol
Not during my lifetime. I am 48, she would be 85 now. I know that she did work before I was born, mostly in medical records, but they moved around a lot because my dad was in the Navy. She stopped when they moved to the town where I was born.
When I was in late elementary-high school she ran a small in home daycare (2-6 kids) and she was an independent seamstress. She made amazing prom dresses, wedding gowns, and anything else you can think of. She actually still sewed for the public until her late 70s, though not usually as complicated of stuff.
Post by dreamcrisp1 on Jan 31, 2022 5:38:26 GMT -5
Yes, my mom works full time in Accounting. She started at her job when I was 7 months old. She always left early so my did got the 3 of us ready for school, made breakfast, and dropped us off. This is even more incredible when you consider we’re an immigrant, Indian family so this is very unusual back then.
I'm in my early 50s and my mom stayed home until I started school and only worked my school hours. Sometimes she'd pick me up from school and bring me back to work with her. My grandparents owned a women's clothing store and she handled paying the vendors, etc. My brother is 9 yrs younger than me and I think she quit working when he was born and then once he was in school full time she went back to work full time and actually made that her career until she retired. I remember him going to before and after school care.
She did work before I was born. My dad was in the Navy and she worked at the courthouse in the city he was stationed.
My best friend's mom was a nurse, but as far as I can remember none of my other friends' moms worked.
What I find interesting is that my grandma (my mom's mom) had a job driving a school bus (they lived out in farm country, so she picked up all of the farmer's kids). She would have turned 100 this past December.
My mom worked full time until I was 3 years old. Then she became a SAHM and had a 3rd child. I don't really remember what it was like for kids in my class but I would say it was 50/50.
Post by soccermama on Jan 31, 2022 11:11:51 GMT -5
Yep, my mom always worked full-time when I was a kid and until she retired. She worked at a large trucking company for like 35 years; she worked her way up from being a billing clerk till eventually she was the executive secretary to the district manager the last several years before she retired.
I think most of my friends and the kids I knew had working moms; I can't recall many of my friends that had SAH moms.
I'm 37. Mom always worked outside the home, full time. She also took college classes off and on, finally got her associate's when I was in college. She will be 60 later this year and works on a contract basis now (when she works, she works like 60-70 hours a week, but only for about 6-12 weeks at a time, then takes like 2-3 months off).
Most of my friends' moms worked outside the house.
Post by liverandonions on Feb 1, 2022 10:14:55 GMT -5
My mom was a dental hygenist in the air force which is how she met my dad. My dad is a doctor so when they got out of the military he had to do his residency and she was a SAHM, then she owned a women's boutique - think super 80's shoulder pads, geometric designs, and big jewelry LOL. Then that went OOB and she worked in his office, then at some point she was a loan officer, then back to his office manager (always sort of did this off and on), Then when they divorced in 1996 she started working at a church and did that for several years until my Grandma needed more full time care. After my grandma passed she worked at Coordination center for the homeless. THen she quit in the middle of the night because she didn't like her boss, and told me she'd go back to work after a few months. After a few months I asked if she was going back and she yelled at me "I'm retired!" She was sucking at the golden teat of my dad that's what she was doing. He's 75 this year and is finally retiring as a doctor in September after working it with a lawyer that he could cut her off (he was being a good man and paying her). So all that to say she did work, never consistently.
My parents owned a retail store but it was mostly staffed by others. She would work there occasionally, but my dad never wanted her there. Turns out he was having an affair with the store manager, so that makes sense.
**fun fact, my dad broke things off with the store manager. A week later there was a fire and we lost the business. It was always highly suspected that she started the fire. My parents divorced shortly after the fire. My dad got back together with the store manager and now they have been married for 22 years. Bananas.
I'm 38, my mom worked 4 days a week as a hospice social worker. My dad worked a lot, so until i could drive as the oldest kid, she was our activities chauffeur.
I'm 41, my mom (she's 67) worked nights at Acme after I was born (my dad and her would cross paths at the door coming home/going to work so someone would always be home with me). She started a homemade pasta business out of our house when I was in middle school and that grew into a pretty solid business that she had until my parents divorced when I was 16. Then she worked 3 jobs (pasta business, Home Depot, and worked for a contractor company that would build furniture and set up displays at different retail stores) to try and keep our house and give me normalcy. She finally sold the house after her and my stepdad got together and they got married. Ended up closing the pasta business because even though it was successful it was a ton of work.
After that she started a yoga studio which was moderately successful but was tough to maintain, then she worked at UPS, then got an office manager job at a therapist's office. She ended up learning insurance billing and started her own business. Now I work with her after leaving the corporate world in 2015 and I'm in the process of taking over.
Post by thedutchgirl on Feb 1, 2022 14:28:27 GMT -5
I'm 44, and my mom was 29 when I was born, which was "older" in the 1970s. My brother is 40. My mom worked 4 days a week after I was born and then 3 days a week after my brother, as a social worker licensing foster care homes. She eventually transitioned to adoption placement as I got older. She quit to SAH when I was in junior high and then my dad had an affair, so she got her MSW when I was in high school as they divorced and finished her career as a juvenile probation officer. She was great at her jobs, and is very smart--high school valedictorian and top of her class in her MSW program.
Most of my friends growing up did have SAHMs, as that was the evangelical culture I grew up in.
ETA: My mom was first in her family to go to college and the oldest of 6. My grandma graduated high school pregnant with my mom and my grandpa had an 8th grade education.
I’m 44. My mom was trained as a teacher in her home country and had to stop when she immigrated to the United States with my dad after I was born because of licensing. She went back to college when I was 5 and finished her degree. She got a teaching credential and continued until retirement at 67.
Both grandmothers married and had kids later in life. They both worked most of their lives— one grandmother (born 1907) as an accountant/ bookkeeper for her father and then her husband’s business. The other grandmother (born 1910) worked as a secretary with a gap during the 8 years she was married to my grandfather, then went back after she divorced.
There were some stay at home moms around when I was growing up. Many women went back to work or had substantial hobbies/ side businesses once their kids were in upper elementary school. Most of the women who worked (that I knew in my community) had pink collar jobs like nursing, teaching, secretarial or helping out in a family business. They were able to start and stop their careers more easily than someone climbing the corporate ladder.
Post by lightbulbsun on Feb 2, 2022 15:11:02 GMT -5
My brother and I are mid 30s. My mom worked until I was born, and then worked part time on Saturdays while my brother and I were young and she went back to work at a full time 9-5 when I was 9. She was an occupational therapist.