Do you think being a stay-at-home mom is an honorable profession or waste of a mom's skills?

Question

Do you think being a stay-at-home mom is an honorable profession or waste of a mom's skills?

Answer 1

Totally Honorable Profession!  Whatever skills a woman has, whether secretarial, businesswoman, bus driver, lab technician, teacher, doesn't matter -- it won't go to waste.  She can use all of it in managing her home and rearing her children!  All of it!  Especially if she's homeschooling her kids from K through graduation!  There is no greater recognition or award that a woman can receive than "Thanks for being there, mom!"  "Thanks for all you've done, honey!"

If you're religious, read Proverbs 31 and Titus 2 from the Bible.  (Good even if you're not particularly religious.)

Answer 2

I believe having a stay at home mom is the best thing for children.  My mom has always been a stay at home mom and I always felt sorry for my friends who were shipped of to daycare because their mom had to work to pay for the new boat/car/TV their family 'needed'.  I just wish parents could see that all kids need is their parents, not money.  

I have always wanted to be a stay at home mom and a violin teacher.  Luckily, I can make decent money teaching out of my home, but if I feel that my teaching interferes with being the best mom possible, then my husband and I will work something out to where I don't teach and can focus on the kids full time.  I plan homeschooling my kids too so that means I will definitely have to stop teaching for a few years.

Don't let anyone tell you being a stay at home mom is a waste of skills!  That's a complete load of junk.  Being a mom is one of the most natural things you can do with your life.  I fail to see how that would be a waste.  And so what if you went to school and have some fancy-schmancy degree.  Not going into the workforce is not a waste of your degree.  It's a failsafe in case you ever need to use it.  Just because you have a degree does not mean you have to be in the workforce.

Answer 3

Being a stay at home mom is a VERY honorable "profession" if you have good "Mom" skills. Having babies is easy, raising children is a whole 'nother ball game. Some mom's start to feel like their brain is turning into playdo if they have little adult contact, they should stay in the work force, even if it's part time. You don't want to get to the point where you start resenting your kids and husband.  I have a friend who has 4 kids ages 2-7, she's a fantastic mom! It must have been what she was born to do.  Some of us just plain have to work to pay bills, so the luxery of the choice is gone.  

This question has been around since the late 50's early 60's.

Answer 4

I think it's an honorable profession.

I've been a working mom (upper level professional) and I'm now a stay-at-home mom.  I enjoyed my working years and will probably return to work when my son is old enough to work independently, but honestly, right now my skills are best spent on him.

I didn't become a mother because it's convenient, and I certainly did not have a child so that others could raise him.  He's *my* child - which means that my skills are the ones that he needs most.  He has outside instructors, and he has other adults in his life, but his dad and I  (as well as his grandparents) are his primary adult influences.  That's the way it's supposed to be!  It doesn't take a village to raise a child...it takes a committed, loving family.

And honestly, anyone who thinks that I'm wasting my skills is welcome to think so.  All I have to do is take one glance at my child and see the enthusiastic, willing, loving, intelligent boy before me to know that my time and efforts are being spent in the most honorable way possible.

Answer 5

Honestly whether it is honorable or not is besides the point. You should just do what you desire to do! If you WANT to stay home and take care of your kids and your household, then that is AWESOME!

Frankly, I used to be against being a 'housewife' and then I realized that when I have kids I would much rather be able to stay home with them and spend as much time with them as possible (until they become teenagers, of course).

In my opnion, neither working at home or working at a regular job has any more honor than the other.

BESIDES, that in your spare time you can do other things that you enjoy that might use your skill set! (And you will need those skills to get back into the workforce later!)

Answer 6

You are asking this in the homeschooling section. I don't think many homeschooling mothers would say they are wasting their skills. I think they'd say they are using their skills to raise and educate their children. How many better uses are there? Yeah, alright, earning money is a useful thing to do too :)

Answer 7

I think that's no one's business but the mom making that call.  

Answer 8

If the mother wants to stay at home, she should.  Staying at home only becomes a "waste of skills" when Mom sits around thinking it is.

Answer 9

Extremely honorable if you love your child entirely and your fair, then yes

Answer 10

Hmm...raising children to be productive citizens, keeping a household running, budgeting, nursing sick family members, creating meals, educating the next generation...sounds pretty darn honorable to me.

My father once totalled up how much he would have had to pay if he hired other people to do my stay-at-home mother's job.  His conclusion: he couldn't afford her.

All the best.

Answer 11

It isn't a "Profession" or a "job" it is simply the way some choose to live their lives.

I love staying at home and homeschooling our Daughter. I have no desires to go back to teaching in the school system. I don't feel I am wasting my degree considering I am using all of those to teach and raise our Daughter.

I think it is just how you look at it. Now if you are very unhappy and had a career that you enjoyed and are staying home out of pure guilt and not a want then yes it may seem like a waste that you chose that path. To each his own though and I can't judge.  

Answer 12

Honorable?  Absolutely.  Is it a waste of mom's skills?  Hmm.  That's a tricky question.  Partly it depends on what her skills are.  If her skills are  unrelated to motherhood and homemaking and if her skills are fulfilling and particularly important to society, she should probably skip having kids and focus on her work.  Most women are not in that category and they have lots of tough choices to make.  If you are a mom, taking good care of the kids is certainly no waste-- it HAS to be more important than a job to ONE of the parents at least, that could be Dad, but SOMEBODY has to put them first.  

Answer 13

Usually honourable. I've met a few stay-at-home moms who barely parented, barely did things to take care of the house and it really just seemed to be a case of laziness or depression or something. In most cases, honourable. How can raising kids be less honourable than doing something else?

I don't believe in this whole "waste" notion that I know many people have. I've had people tell me that because I'm homeschooling, at least my education degree didn't get wasted. Hogwash. Even if I weren't somehow still involved in education, some of what I learned in university is still good and will always be good. There's never a waste in learning things. People don't value enough learning; they only see it as a means to an end. And many people certainly don't value enough the role a mother can play in raising her children.

Answer 14

Being a stay-at-home mom is NOT a waste of skills, and having that thought in your mind is a disgusting thing. It's a very honorable thing to do, because it's not an easy thing to do, to try and bring children up to be good people in a world of chaos and catastrophes. Anyone who thinks that being a stay-at-home mom is a waste of the mom's skills is a waste of life, and should be attacked by a moose.

Answer 15

Being a stay-at-home mom is the most honorable of professions, but do not expect anyone to honor you for it.  My sagest advice is be a stay-at-home mom for as long as it pleases you, but be careful that you do not completely lose touch with the outside world.  Find yourself at least one activity outside of the home even if your youngest has to accompany you.  Stay interesting; remember while your kids need a mom, your husband still would like to have a wife.  Now, having said all of that, there is nothing wrong with you getting away from both the kids and the husband for a few hours every now and then.  Believe it or not, the occasional "night out with the girls" will make you a better wife and mother.

Answer 16

A little from column A a little from column B. It is a honourable profession but can also be a waste of skills. It depends what skills you have, but remember to be a good mom you have to be an organizational genius among other things

Answer 17

I think an honorable profession is for a mother to care for her child. Its what we do. Women r meant to care for their young. I believe that a waste of a mom's skills is to be cramd inside an office building, fileing papers or dealing with a boss u hate more than anything!

That my answer,

Avery