Homemaker Job Description, Career as a Homemaker, Salary, Employment - Definition and Nature of the Work, Education and Training Requirements, Getting the Job
When I tell people I am a full-time homemaker, I get responses such as " Oh how lucky, I wish I could just stay home and do whatever I wanted all day"..or "Must be nice, but I'd get bored doing nothing all day" and other lovely, snide remarks. This opinion of "stay at home" moms really bothers me, though I don't hold it against the person making those statements..maybe this is their experience with not working outside the home.
I take great pride at being a full-time homemaker. I feel my job is to take the income my husband makes and stretch it to live comfortably with our three children. (At first I didn't choose to be an at home mom, but circumstance and my oldest child's special needs kinda forced me into it. Now, I'm grateful and happy to be available for my family at any given moment.)
Since my husband works outside of the home full-time, I consider all domestic duties to be my full-time job. Here's what I strive to accomplish being a full-time homemaker:
To do all of the cooking, as much of that from scratch as possible, including making my own breads, and "convenience" foods. This can be time consuming, but saves a lot of money. Since I control the ingredients, there aren't any added preservatives or chemicals.. so much healthier in my opinion!
To do all of the shopping- clothing and food. Using coupons and sales to get the best deals.To do all of the cleaning (aside from chores given to the children, I feel it's important for them to learn housekeeping skills)
To do the light maintenance of the home. This includes clogged drains, duct cleaning, drywall repair, etc.
Handle all of the financing. (I'm always looking at ways to cut costs and make the most of our income.)
I would love to say to make all of our clothes........ but sewing is not my strong point, so my level of homemaking hasn't reached that point, yet..
Of course I also tend to the children and their needs and volunteer at their school.
When I read this list, it doesn't sound like much at all. But I work very hard at homemaking, as many other "stay at home moms" do,and I truly believe a penny saved is a penny earned. The cost of childcare, fuel for commuting to and from a job, the extra cost of groceries (since I would not be home to do as much scratch cooking), and other hidden costs of working outside the home would add up to very little money leftover to make it worth it for me to do so. I am always trying to continually improve on my homemaking skills, learning new and better methods along the way.
But whatever level of homemaker you are, what you do is very valuable and important. Every thing you do for your household, whether it be earn the money, budget the money, tend to the chores, tend to the children, etc.- is an important job! What does it mean to you to be a homemaker?
