I recently drove behind a minivan whose license plate monikered the driver as a "HOUSEWF."
Come on, lady, I thought. Give yourself some credit! You’re not married to a house -- go with wife, or mother, or homemaker even --
And then I noticed my rant had grown vocal, and I had an audience: my 11-year-old daughter, who I frequently tell being a mom is the most important job in the world. But to whom I also conspicuously demonstrate how important I feel it is for a woman to have an education, a vocation, hobbies -- an IDENTITY -- that she can infuse in her "housewifery."
"Maybe those license plates were taken?" my daughter said, diffusing the situation. But the nerve in me had once again been struck -- admittedly by my own insecurities that perhaps the only recognition that will ever be granted to the world’s most undervalued role is misspelled on the back of a minivan.
As a child, I dreamed of having a career instead of kids. My Barbie had a Ferrari, not a diaper bag. So the fact that the letters "SAHM" now best define my stay at home mom to-do’s instead of the Ph.D/ M.D./ Esq. I had once envisioned, is still one I’m getting used to.
I know many women who, like HOUSEWF, wear the stay-at-home mommy badge with pride. And I know many others who spend the PB&J-making process mourning the career they left behind, and counting the days until they can get back to it. And then there are the jugglers who admirably manage both career and family, whether by necessity or choice.
But statistics show that across the board, when a woman adds the letters M-O-M to her identity, her monetary paycheck drops or disappears altogether...
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Cracking Up: Mom's job is priceless - OC Moms - The Orange County Register
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