Tag Archives: housewife

Would Your Family Survive Without You?

Our family went to a local amusement park for the 4th of July celebration. While standing in the various lines with our children I noticed a man who was clearly hurting, sad, and appeared very lonely. He hardly smiled watching his three young children enjoy the day. At one point while standing in one of the lines we had a conversation. The man told me that just before Christmas his wife suffered a brain aneurysm and suddenly died at the age of 31, leaving him to raise their children alone. He said, “I never stopped to think about the financial … Continue reading →

Calling a Truce in the War of the Wives

Recently the National Organization for Women began to push an agenda that asked the compelling question: How can society better support mothers and caregivers so that they can choose to work either outside or inside the home – whether it’s full or part time – without additional guilt, financial strife or other barriers? Traditionally, many stay-at-home wives and mothers have felt denigrated by the organization that should have been supporting them. After all, the right to work, the right to make choices are just that – the right of the individual wife, mother and couple. Many women choose to work … Continue reading →

Standards of Comparison: Housewife versus Stay At Home Mom

Over the last couple of days, I’ve been talking about the career wife versus the housewife. Now, I want to take the matter a little further. This is about the relationship dynamic and frankly the prejudice that exists now about the housewife, not the stay at home mom – but the housewife who elects to stay home whether there are children involved or not. Most of us who have commented on these issues over the last few days have all been moms, but what about the housewife who doesn’t have children. Forty years ago, when a woman married – most … Continue reading →

Great Expectations – Housewives versus Career Wives

Did you know that one of the largest sources of stress for husbands in the modern day is an inability to provide enough for their families so that their wife can stay home? It might seem surprising that this is an actual source of stress considering the trend of women who want to work and who competed to work in the workplace. “There’s a difference,” offered one husband in a recent survey. “If my wife wants to work, that’s great. If she brings in more money than me, that’s great. I don’t want her to have to work if she … Continue reading →

Housewife vs Career Wife

About ten years ago, I could not imagine being a housewife. Reared in the 80s, I had some pretty strong viewpoints on the rights of women and believed rather firmly that any woman who was a housewife was surrendering her right to be her own person. Okay, now I didn’t say I was bright back in those days. Still, the concept seemed alien. What a difference a generation can make. Having been both a career wife and a housewife since that time and maintaining what I believe is a happy medium between the two (yeah, there is a happy medium) … Continue reading →