Remember when Daddy brought home the bacon and Mommy stayed home? Growing up as a little kid, that's the way it was. Granted, Daddy worked two jobs.
In the '50s, Dad worked. Mom stayed home, raised the kids, cooked dinner and baked, all while keeping the house nice.
In the '60s, the sexual revolution and women's lib changed everything.
In the '70s, more and more women became independent, working professionals just like their male counterparts. By the early '80s, the latchkey kids were coming home to empty houses, and then we dipped into a recession.
The women who were still stay-at-home-moms started to supplement their husband's pay with part-time jobs. This is when my mom would clean houses to help us stay comfortable. My mom went back to work full time sometime in the mid 80s. We had come out of the recession, and by the '90s, even more women had entered into the workforce... I remember being in High School and noticing that almost all of my friends parents both worked. I would venture to say that about 50% of both parents had full-time jobs, and another 30% of the mothers had part-time jobs.
Now, in 2011, it's tough to struggle with one salary supporting a family. I don't know any couples who are married with kids, and not both working full-time jobs, struggling to keep a roof over their heads and food on their plates. Except for us. I am lucky to have a wife who currently stays at home with the kids. I have an 18 month old, an almost 5 year old, and an 8 year old. Day care costs too much. Pre-school costs too much. It doesn't pay for my wife to get a job that's just going to be cancelled out by those costs. So, she stays home like those moms of yore and is actually raising our kids... What a concept!
She has a job. She has many jobs, actually. She's a mother, a wife, a pre-school teacher, and an extreme couponer. The last one saves us damn near $40,000 a year; that's a decent salary in today's economy! It could end up saving us nearly $60,000 yearly, if we play our coupons right. And she just started her own business as a Face and Body Painter.
Check out her site, she's awesome. All advertising aside, my wife is amazing, especially considering that she has, let's count, 5 jobs!
After being unemployed myself for 6 months, during which my wife worked for 3 months as a medical assistant, and consequently was fired for bogus reasons, I found a job that I hated. Then, only after I toiled day after day at a job that I absolutely abhorred, I found my current position (thanks to my wife's keen observation skills). I love my current day job. I love that my wife is at home with the kids. And we still struggle. But that's okay.
Hopefully, with her new venture, sometime in the near future, we will stop struggling. But there are always unforeseen dangers lurking in the shadows. It seems that every time we start to get ahead, we get taken back a few hundred steps. And there is no such thing as job security these days. Let's face it folks: inflation is still rising, interest rates suck, everyone's maxing out their credit, and the middle class is virtually gone.
I don't know where I'm going with this. I guess I'm just frustrated. But I am grateful that I have such a great wife! And I know better days are coming. Eventually, I will finish one of the screenplays that I've started to write.
I'm a college educated struggling writer. Funny thing is, that cliche used to mean something. Now we're all struggling [insert occupation here]! As a 35 year old father/husband, I should be getting ready to have a mid-life crisis. But I can't afford it! So I guess I'll just keep writing... And working at my day job... And promoting my wife's business.
ZD
In the '50s, Dad worked. Mom stayed home, raised the kids, cooked dinner and baked, all while keeping the house nice.
In the '60s, the sexual revolution and women's lib changed everything.
In the '70s, more and more women became independent, working professionals just like their male counterparts. By the early '80s, the latchkey kids were coming home to empty houses, and then we dipped into a recession.
The women who were still stay-at-home-moms started to supplement their husband's pay with part-time jobs. This is when my mom would clean houses to help us stay comfortable. My mom went back to work full time sometime in the mid 80s. We had come out of the recession, and by the '90s, even more women had entered into the workforce... I remember being in High School and noticing that almost all of my friends parents both worked. I would venture to say that about 50% of both parents had full-time jobs, and another 30% of the mothers had part-time jobs.
Now, in 2011, it's tough to struggle with one salary supporting a family. I don't know any couples who are married with kids, and not both working full-time jobs, struggling to keep a roof over their heads and food on their plates. Except for us. I am lucky to have a wife who currently stays at home with the kids. I have an 18 month old, an almost 5 year old, and an 8 year old. Day care costs too much. Pre-school costs too much. It doesn't pay for my wife to get a job that's just going to be cancelled out by those costs. So, she stays home like those moms of yore and is actually raising our kids... What a concept!
She has a job. She has many jobs, actually. She's a mother, a wife, a pre-school teacher, and an extreme couponer. The last one saves us damn near $40,000 a year; that's a decent salary in today's economy! It could end up saving us nearly $60,000 yearly, if we play our coupons right. And she just started her own business as a Face and Body Painter.
Check out her site, she's awesome. All advertising aside, my wife is amazing, especially considering that she has, let's count, 5 jobs!
After being unemployed myself for 6 months, during which my wife worked for 3 months as a medical assistant, and consequently was fired for bogus reasons, I found a job that I hated. Then, only after I toiled day after day at a job that I absolutely abhorred, I found my current position (thanks to my wife's keen observation skills). I love my current day job. I love that my wife is at home with the kids. And we still struggle. But that's okay.
Hopefully, with her new venture, sometime in the near future, we will stop struggling. But there are always unforeseen dangers lurking in the shadows. It seems that every time we start to get ahead, we get taken back a few hundred steps. And there is no such thing as job security these days. Let's face it folks: inflation is still rising, interest rates suck, everyone's maxing out their credit, and the middle class is virtually gone.
I don't know where I'm going with this. I guess I'm just frustrated. But I am grateful that I have such a great wife! And I know better days are coming. Eventually, I will finish one of the screenplays that I've started to write.
I'm a college educated struggling writer. Funny thing is, that cliche used to mean something. Now we're all struggling [insert occupation here]! As a 35 year old father/husband, I should be getting ready to have a mid-life crisis. But I can't afford it! So I guess I'll just keep writing... And working at my day job... And promoting my wife's business.
ZD
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