This time, credit not only for the idea of this blog but also for the title goes to Jade “The Muse” Walker. (At this rate, she’s going to have to get a new nickname. Something catchier. Something that better conveys the abundance of leads she bestows upon me.)
This is sort of a continuation of my Yes, I Confess, I’m a Stay-at-Home Wife article. But instead of making more confessions (I’ve got some more coming, actually, but in a separate article), I’m going to discuss the CNN.com article by Sarah Jio that Jade sent me. The one that’s kicking off what might prove to be a stay-at-home wives mini-series.
A Lifestyle Choice
When I wrote The Curious Case of Sister-Wives, I realized that polygamy is a lifestyle choice as much as it is a way of life.
Being a stay-at-home wife is a lifestyle choice too. Not just for me, but for Wayne as well. Part of him would love us to have a double income again. However, just as staying home meant we’d have to make some sacrifices, so would me going back to work.
Yes, that’s right, you read that right. Me going back to work would spark sacrifices on the home front.
Creates More Time
This sentence from the CNN.com article sums it up best: “…because she takes care of the home, there are virtually no ‘honey-do’ lists to hand over.”
Wayne works and works hard, but his free time is freer than when I worked because I take care of a ton of things. Meals, shopping, laundry, fixing things around the house…it all takes up time. When you only have 48 hours in a weekend and you’re trying to accomplish all the nitty gritty, plus other errands, house repairs/upkeep, along with whatever other miscellany crops up…well, you know the drill. Bye bye weekend.
But because Wayne enjoys the luxury of me being at home (and, yes, I do realize it’s a luxury for us both), he also enjoys the luxury of more time to run, watch Cheaters or whatever other shows he’s DVR’d, and not have to worry about doing much else except relaxing.
Oh, and there’s the spending more time together. Let’s not forget that.
A Niche Group
The article cited Dr. Scott Haltzman, author of The Secrets of a Happily Married Woman, as estimating that nearly 10 percent of the 650 women he interviewed are like me. Stay-at-home wives without kids.
The article further went on to label us a niche group, and even suggested we’re the “latest status symbols.”
Tiffany, Lexus, Mercedes, Coach, Gucci, Giorgio Armani…stay-at-home wives. Um, yeah. Let’s not get carried away.
Happier Than Ever
The article also quoted many of the women interviewed, and even a husband or two, and all admitted that turning their attention to the home and their relationships were the best moves they ever made.
That’s how I feel. Adjusting to our new roles was hard at first, but for the past nine years our relationship’s done nothing but bloom. Not sure that would have happened had I stayed in the working force where I hopped from job to job looking for something that clicked with me because I felt unfilled and unhappy most days.
Then I became a stay-at-home wife. I never expected domesticity to be my calling, but it is. I’m happier than I ever dreamed, and it rubs off on my marriage.
Because you know what they say: “If mama ain’t happy, ain’t no one happy!”
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