Let me just say straight off that I resent the term “stay-at-home mom” and “stay-at-home dad.” For a couple of reasons.
First, do we really stay-at-home? Are we some kind of business shut-ins, who cower under our covers, refusing to face the world? No.
Well, OK, that usually describes me until about 6 a.m., but eventually, after a few stiff shots of coffee and a couple dabs of makeup, I’m ready to meet customers, lunch with potential clients, mix it up with vendors, and haggle with suppliers.
Stay-at-home mom to me is like calling Beach Boy Brian Wilson a stay-at-home musician. I mean, that boy had a few more problems than a desire to transcend the corporate treadmill, right?
There’s also the subtext of the term that I find disturbing. I believe when my husband tells his friends, “My wife is a stay-at-home mom.” They hear: “My wife is a kept woman.”
Fortunately my husband never uses that terminology when he refers to me anymore because he’s an understanding guy and he has no wish to sing falsetto for an extended period of time.
So, you can call me a lot of things, and most people who encounter my erratic driving on the highway are very colorful with their descriptions, but stay-at-home mom… well, thems fightin’ words.
–Stella, your favorite stay-at-home curmudgeon
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