Did YOUR Mom work?

[dcgrumpy]

I'm 40 and my mother would be 68 if she were alive. She was a manger with NY Telephone when I was born, when her maternity leave ended she decided she didn't want to go back to work and resigned. She went back to work for the same company when I was 14.

When I was in elemtary school almost none of the mother's in my neighborhood worked outside the home. The only one I recall working was the one whose husband played for the NY Yankees, you would think she would be the one who could afford to stay home. Of course he wasn't a very good player.

 

[PaulaSue]

My Mom did and was never there for important school stuff, Imo.

I don't work and I'm on both pto's and try to help at school as much as I can and hope I can keep it this way at least until they get a lot older.

 

[m&m's mom]

My DM went back to college when I was 3 and then to work as a teacher when I was 5.
I am now 40 and she taught until my youngest DD was born 9 years ago.
It's funny, my grandfather had 6 sisters that would be around 100-105 if still alive and everyone of them were teachers at the university level. That was strange for that time.
Every single female born to my Great Grandparents has worked. My sister and I are the 1st 2 in 3 generations not teachers.

On a funny side note, my DM stayed at home w/ my 2 oldest siblings and was working w/ my other DB and I. You cannot tell the difference.

 

[keepinitreal]

My mom never officially worked outside the home as my parents owned several small business so she did all the clerical/errand work with me and my little brother attached to her hip. I'm 30 by the way!

 

[MnParrothead]

Yes, I am proud of my mom who worked on her family's farm as a child. She then went on to college and has worked (and is still working) in the field that she majored in since 1958! She has no plans of retiring either.

 

[cyndibelle]

Yes she sure did..she worked 3 jobs !!! my mother and father were divorced when my brother and i were young and she busted her butt to make ends meet...she is my hero!!!

 

[binny]

My mom worked at the church most often while I was growing up. It was pretty much expected of the pastors wives to do that.
She was always home when we got home though and stayed home if we were sick.

She did do some other jobs though when I was growing up, I remember she taught at my school for awhile, she worked at a carpet cleaner place as a secretary PT and a few other jobs.

When I was in JR High she went back to school and then when I entered High School she went to work as social worker.

 

[Texan Mouseketeer]

My mom worked after I started 1st grade, but only from 9-1 every day, so I never felt like she was gone. If I was sick, she either took the day off, or I stayed with my grandmother which was so much fun! Also, my dad traveled every other week and worked out of his home office during the week he was home, so when I was older, he'd be home a lot.

The story I like is that when my grandmother was young, she had to take care of her brothers and sisters because her mother died from the bad 1918 flu epidemic. So, during the depression, she opened her own cleaners and ran her own business to take care of the family! I always thought that was neat.

 

[MUFFYCAT]

I'm 46 and my mother worked part-time for Weight Watchers. She was home at 3:00. When I was a teen she would work an evening class.
We always had TV dinners that night. I could still taste the nasty fried chicken and salisbury steak!

 

[skiwee1]

My mom is 69 and she worked while I was in school. She didn't quit work til I was out of high school. My dad worked too but she loved working so she did it.

 

[dismom9761]

My mom always worked and she hated her job.She was cranky in the evenings and didn't want us around.She changed jobs when I was in HS and it was better.BTW-she never missed anything we were involved in.

 

[aprilgail2]

I am 42 and my mom stayed home....and I HATED it!! Boy would I have liked to have been able to come home from school to an empty house just to unwind for a bit before having to deal with anyone but there she was, day after day.....uggg...how I envyed my friends that had moms that didn't come home for an hour after they got out of school!

 

[MissBubbles]

I'm 40 and my mom quit her job when she was 7 months pregnant and didn't go back to work until I was in college. To compensate, my dad worked a full time and at different times, one or more part time jobs, to make ends meet. At the time I didn't think it was strange at all that I hardly ever saw my dad during the week.

 

[Aidensmom]

Both my mother, who is in her 60's, and my grandmother, who is in her 80's, have college degrees and worked outside the home.

 

[Nutsy]

My mother never worked outside the home..............I had a girlfriend whose Mum worked and the friend had all the latest toys etc. My brother and I once asked our Mum how come she can have all this great stuff and we not. Mum expalined that this girls Mum went out to work and it was the money she earnt from working that was paying for all this new stuff. My Mum went on to explain that although this girls Mum worked, she was not there for her went she left for school in the morning or when she got home from school in the afternoon. The grandmother raised this girl while the parents went out to work.

My brother and I were given a choice..........we could have our Mum go out to work and we could then have lots of new stuff, or we could have our Mum there for us when we needed her. We both told her, she could go to work, but we wanted her there in the morning when we went to school and again when we got home.

I now have children of my own who are now teenagers and I've never worked outside the home since I've been a Mum.

Everyone has different ideas on this and that is fine, but to my mind, it was more important to be here for my kids, than out earning $$ so we could have all the latest gadget. At what expense? The kids becomming latch key kids.........no way.

DH's mum never worked outside the home either and none of my Aunts did either.


ETA... Mum passed away back in October...aged 88

 

[rwcmath]

Mom was a waitress. She was union and mostly worked banquets. I remember walking the picket line with her when I was about 7! She's 86 now and feisty.

rwc

 

[rhanditresmom]

Yes, my mom has worked my entire life...except for a short time and it drove her nuts! She is an RN. She has worked as an RN here in the states and as a missionary (my dad was a pastor). She is still working to this day and is director of nursing for a very fine hospital! I work as well, but really miss being a stay-at-home mom. I just have to pay off my student loans...then I hope to work from home for a while.

 

[snels]

I grew up in the 50's and 60's. Very few of the mothers in our area worked. Most of the families had 4 - 7 children. The ladies had many outside clubs. I think they had alot of fun, especially during their weekly bridge games.

 

[MrsPete]

It was instructions for interviewing people of different ages and under the heading of "Women 60 and older," she had written, "Do NOT ask women of this age about their work--ask them about their families instead. If they worked outside the home, they'll let you know."

I'm 40. My mom stayed home with us until I started high school (there were four younger children, so she actually went back when the youngest was around 3rd grade), then she went back to college full-time, then back to work. My grandmother also worked in her husband's office.

I think if you look at the majority of American women of past years, the majority have been what you'd call work-at-home moms. They've raised vegetable gardens (not just a few rows, but enough to actually feed the family throught the winter), they've taken in wash and sewing, etc. Throw in killing chickens, milking cows, and making homemade soap . . . and you've got one busy woman.

It's not until the 1950s that women -- actually only upper-middle and above -- actually "stayed home" in the sense that we mean today. It wasn't until that time that women were actually at home with the goal of creating a nice, pleasant atmosphere for dad and the kids.

And it wasn't really until the 1970s that the job of stay-at-home mom became about kids -- about the same time that raising kids became parenting. Up until that time, it was more about managing the house -- oh, yeah, and watching the kids.

 

[WDWLVR]

I'm 48 and my mom worked outside of the home from the time I was born until she retired at age 65. Of course right after I was born was also when she kicked my dad out of the house.

Growing up in the 60's and 70's it was strange having a working mom because most of my friends had SAHM's.