I’m the loving wife of a hardworking, REAL man and the stay-at-home mom to a one-year-old boy. My two sisters married “boys,” not men, and our lives couldn’t be more different. I went to college, had big adventures, got married and started a family. My sisters are both finishing graduate school and have very successful careers. They are the breadwinners in their families, and their husbands bounce between odd jobs.
Sometimes it’s hard not to compare myself with their great career successes. I don’t bring in oodles of money and I don’t have employers who are constantly impressed by me. Instead, I have a husband who relies on me to keep the house from falling apart, cook good meals and make sure my son has everything he needs. After reading your book “In Praise of Stay-At-Home Moms,” I felt that there isn’t anything that would be more important than being home with my little boy. Then I found a feminist on social media bashing stay-at-home moms. She said everything from “it’s a bad example” to “imagine marrying someone because you love their ambition, just for them to throw it away to be home, taking your hard-earned money.” It was beyond silly, and she didn’t even know how to back up her opinion.
But then I read the comments, and thousands of people expressed their love and admiration for the stay-at-home moms in their lives. They threw her opinion out the window, because anyone who has been loved by a stay-at-home mom or who has loved one, knows there is no greater calling. Thank you so much for supporting all of us so strongly.
Jan
The Most Important Job in My Life