Email of the Day: My Wife Is Not Valued for Staying Home To Raise Our Kids

There are many cliches about French women: that they are seductive, passionate, charming, elegant and smart. My wife is French and she is all of those things, and much more. She is also the mother of our four children, and a stay-at-home mom.

France admires its working women, but looks at the floor toward those who raise their children at home. The French think staying home with your kids is something backward and even oppressive for the mother and child. Thousands of mothers will celebrate Mother’s Day, then drop their babies off at 7:30AM the next day for up to twelve hours. Because that’s considered “normal,” it’s awkward when we tell people that my wife stays at home with the kids. When the world around you tends to think that what you’re doing is odd, it’s not easy to see what you’re doing is beautiful. But what could be more beautiful in life than a woman who turned her own bad childhood around and is raising four irresistibly wonderful children?

I want you to know that thousands of miles away across the Atlantic, there is one woman who has been uplifted, sustained and inspired to think about herself in radically positive and fresh ways (for France at least) because she listens to your perceptive and bold podcasts. Thank you for helping my wife articulate her values and for giving her moments of courage and insight for doing the most important job in the world – being “Maman.”

Matthew

My Wife Is Not Valued for Staying Home To Raise Our Kids