Years ago, you would often hear or read of people saying things like 'When I was a child, I thought we were rich, until I grew up and realised that we had had very little money'
Soon, I think we will begin to hear and read the opposite from our grown children. They will say 'I always assumed that we were poor when I was young, until I grew up and realised we had had quite a lot of money'
And right now, adults seem to have very strange perceptions of what is rich and what is poor...
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| Time to dig the snow |
Is it poor to be able to be at home and spend quality time with your own children?
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| Little rich kid? |
Is this a poor family sitting around the table together?
Would it be richer to dash into a busy fast food outlet, and feast on their 'wholesome' fare?
Is having the time to think about dinner and do the shopping an impoverishing experience?
Poverty? - having to hang the washing on the line on this lovely day, with baby out here in the fresh air.
Perhaps 40+ hours a week of this is rich and contenting?
Will she feel that she was poor because mummy was there when she was ill?
Or perhaps she would feel richer in the day care?
No expenses spared holiday?
Or a peaceful romantic walk that costs hugely less?
A wife at home, enjoying her home, spending time with the one she loves, can have a richer life.
Very encouraging post! Sometimes it is good to compare things in order to put others in their true light!
ReplyDeleteRhonda
Thank you Rhonda. Writing this post has helped me to think more about what is rich too.
DeleteJust found your lovely blog and appreciated your thoughts above. I have been a homemaker 40 years and always have loved it. My hubby has always been great at helping as needed. But recently I injured my hand and he has had to do more to help than in the past 35 years. It has been a revelation to us both to see just how much more stress there has been in our lives. This has really shown us how very different our lives would have been had I worked outside the home and had to run home at end of tiring day and we both would have had to take the chores. Our son a nap dwife, presently a stay at home mom, were visiting with some friends. The other husband told them he had been doing some figuring and decided his wife, also a stay at home, didn't have much value. My son and wife were horrified! Son immediately responded, "you do understand that you just insulted my wife, my mom, and both my grandmothers, right? You need to do some serious thinking and apologize to your wife." Then he and his wife quickly walked away because my son was too angry to trust himself to say anything else. I was so proud when I hear this! I'm always glad to "meet" another homemaker who recognizes her value in her contribution to her home.
ReplyDeleteWelcome and thank you Dee. Great comment. Housewives in the making will benefit from reading these comments by experienced housewives.
ReplyDeleteLadies, comments such as these above are just what I envisaged for this blog. Not just me, but the input of many housewives to share and encourage.
ReplyDeleteYou flipped around the emotions and meaning, It has made us stop and think about being rich vs. being poor. Which is it, poor or rich?
ReplyDeleteThank you Christine. It gives us all food for thought doesn't it?
Deletehello,
ReplyDeletegreat post!!!
greetings,regina
Hello, Regina. Thank you very much.
ReplyDeleteI've been encouraging my daughter-in-law to keep track of how much she saves her family. She is brilliant at shopping thrift stores. I think we all need to do this. It is your contribution to the family finances. We wish we had had the foresight from the beginning of our marriage to keep all that money in a seperate savings account. Wouldn't that have been valuable! At any rate it pays mentally, if you are a full time homemaker, to keep a list of the things you have been able to do simply BECAUSE you have not been working outside the home. We were able to make short trips while stationed in Germany (the few wives who were working had a horrible time getting time off to vacation with their husbands and instead traveled with other women!), we homeschooled, we cared for my Mom in our home for 10 years. Previous to that another six months was spent staying with her in her home at different times along with numerous weekend trips( leaving on a early Friday when hubby could occasionally get off), he has a strange schedule so to be able to suddenly go away on a day has been useful. I have been able to routinely visit a cancer patient who had to stay alone during the day while her family worked, and there have been multiple tasks I've helped with at church. I was able to be home to help my husband out after a shoulder surgery on his dominate arm and to be with him during recovery from several other surgeries. I was home to recognize and address problems several times over the years: broken pipes that if not addressed quickly would have led to the well burning out, a sudden leak in the roof, the heat pump and an AC that stopped working properly....if they had run all day the repairs would have been far more costly. There were a couple of times pets would have died if not taken to the vet quickly. We've had the exhausting (but thrilling) privilege several times of having grandchildren from far out of town spending a full week with us so we had real bonding time. That was priceless. Because I was home I was able to stop workmen from making huge costly mistakes in construction more than once. And one of those times the workmen walked off the job leaving us with 1/3 of a roof totally missing and rain on it's way. Because I was home I was able to confront the subcontractor on their mess, and notify hubby so he could come home and Cover the attic with plastic so there was no damage to the ceiling! When their was a totally unexpected family emergency in the extended family we were able to drop all and run to help. Yeah. It has definitely been valuable to be home full time!
ReplyDeleteThank you so much, Dee, for taking the time to share this superb idea, and your personal examples of what your family have,saved because you were not working! I am going to start keeping track of my own, and sharing your idea in a future post. I am sure it will be very helpful to other housewives.
DeleteAwesome post! So true, the perceptions these days are very sad.
ReplyDeleteBlessings, Anne ♥
Thank you so much, Anne
DeleteWonderful points!
ReplyDeleteMrs.O
Thank you Mrs.O
ReplyDeleteI read this post a few weeks ago but I keeps popping back into my mind. It is so true that a mother at home makes life feel rich and luxurious. People dream of vacationing at a nice hotel or idyllic bed and breakfast, when all of the comforts they provide can be simply provided at home --- a tidy space, fresh sheets, comfort foods on a table set with a tablecloth and cloth napkins, fresh flowers from the garden, and even time to rest and read a book.
ReplyDeleteIt is so true Leigh. Everything we could wish for : )
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