Homemakers. That's what stay-at-home moms were called when my mom was a young mother. It's a term that I think should make a comeback.
I don't like the term "stay-at-home" mom. It's supposed to mean that mom does not work outside the home for pay. I find it interesting how so many people seem to believe that if you prioritize your parenthood over a career that means you don't have any sort of life or outside interests or even socialization with anyone but your kids. They think it means you have no skills either.
That's why I think "homemaking" needs to make a comeback. What is a homemaker? A homemaker is one who makes a home. What does it take to make a home? It takes a myriad of skills.
As a homemaker, you are basically the CEO of your household. You manage the schedules. You plan, and often cook, the meals. You care for sick children (and husbands--let's be real here). You play the part of chauffeur, teacher, nurse, maid, coach, cook, librarian, personal shopper, commanding officer, and so much more.
But let's apply this to mothers in general. It really doesn't seem to matter whether you do this as your full-time gig and nothing else on the side or you have another career. It takes skills to manage a household. You can work forty hours a week and be a homemaker. You can volunteer untold hours with any organization and still be a homemaker. You can work mornings, nights, part-time, from home, and still be a homemaker.
Let's stop pitting mothers against each other. Some mothers want to have an established career because it gives them more of a sense of purpose. Other mothers prefer to focus solely on their family and children because that's where they derive their purpose. Others have to bring home a paycheck just to pay the bills. Others have financial woes but believe that being a mother first is so important that they choose to struggle financially instead.
Nobody is wrong here. Homemaking skills are skills that any mother, whether she is gone from the house fifty hours a week or home twenty-four seven can develop.
Let's bring back homemaking and appreciate all hard-working mothers who are doing everything they can to raise their children right to the best of their ability.
