My Choice to be a Housewife

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 I remember the days when I was a little girl, dreaming of being a veterinarian, a singer and an actress, (yes all three, I was very motivated). But I also dreamt of  having children, and taking care of my husband. I watched shows where the man would come home and say, "Honey, I'm home!" and greet his happy housewife with a kiss.

She would be wearing a darling apron, dressed in her best and the house would be immaculate. I wanted that life so much more than I wanted to be someone famous.

This desire dug into me more and more as I grew up and though I worked outside the home from the time I was eleven years old until I was grown, I always knew where I wanted to be.
But just wanting to be a housewife isn't an option anymore these days. Society has made the term "housewife" something that seems almost derogatory. "Oh, you're just a housewife?"

A few years back I got a part time job. It was miserable, and I was going to school at the same time. At his work, Matt was telling a co-worker about my new found employment. Th co-worker said, "Wow, can you teach me how you got your wife to get a job? Mine just sits around the house all day playing with the kids." My dear, sweet, sexy, man of a man turned and said, "Did you think I was bragging? I was complaining. Why would I want my wife to work when I'm perfectly capable of doing that myself? I wish she would quit her job."

This is because when we first got married, Matt and I decided what our roles were going to be. Bits and pieces of me always thought that perhaps he agreed to me staying home because he didn't want to argue, or because he knew it was what I wanted. But at this very moment in time when he told me about this conversation, I knew his intentions, and I quit that job.

I've talked to friends who have tried to be a stay at home mother or a housewife, and often they complain about arguments they get into with their spouse about it. I strongly believe this is because the roles are not clearly defined, and they have not properly discussed this important change in their lives. So how should you go about with this discussion? Well you need to read my first article over at Happy to be at Home! Being Happy at Home is a Choice.