@daryle Completely unpopular opinion and I’m only speaking about myself and no one else..
I’ve been a sahm for over 18 years. No one has ever been negative about me being a sahm.
My mom & mil were both sahm, all my friends were/are sahm. Everyone has always been supportive.
I never felt like being a sahm was difficult. They say it’s the hardest job. I always said to my husband, “what about those crab fishermen! I get to control what I want to do week to week and not be working in cold wet conditions”
We watched “The Deadliest Catch” a lot lol
Were there moments that were/are stressful-yes.
I didn’t see it as a job. In my own head I felt like people saw me as I wasn’t doing anything/enough. When in reality no one ever gave me that impression or ever spoke a word to me negatively.
Reading it over it sounds absurd.
If my husband was working out of the house 8+ hours a day, aside from parenting my kids, I made sure things were done to completion, the house was in order & we had food on the table at dinner.
I never thought I was doing something great it was just what I was supposed to be doing.
My parents call me occasionally to just tell me what a great job I’ve done with the boys and they wouldn’t be where they are without me. I feel nothing. Nothing. It’s what I’m supposed to be doing and I still don’t feel like I’ve done that much when I’ve pretty much done a large part of the parenting. Again, another absurd thought.
I enjoyed being at home with my kids when they were very little and look back at those moments as something very special but I was also excited & ready for more freedom when they were both in school full time.
Being at home suddenly shifted about 4 years ago. I literally couldn’t be in the house anymore. At this point my kids were 11 & 14. I felt like I had nothing to offer people when they asked what I’d been up to. I was embarrassed when people asked what I did especially when they knew my kids were older. I looked into volunteering. I wasn’t going to the office a lot at the time because the need for me to be there wasn’t great but the very few times I’d go throughout the month I felt so satisfied and proud of what I did. This was not how I really felt being a sahm.
Fast forward to now, I’m out of the house 3-4 days a week 10am-2pm-ish volunteering in the same hospice admin office. I absolutely love it there. I feel so proud having an answer to “what do you do” or what are up to” now.
I’m sure where I’m at in life is just par for the course
There became a limit to how much I was cleaning & cooking. I was going crazy!!
I have no clue if this comment makes any sense or even relates to what the OP was asking but I just felt I needed to express it.
Thank you for reading if you got this far!!