If you didnt work

[wdwmom0f3]

I worked all of my life until after my second baby was born and we moved eight hours from home. It has been almost 15 years now and while I miss having my own money to blow on what ever I want to, I love staying at home. I also stay pretty busy.

 

[t_daniels]

Nope. I'd volunteer more with my hydrocephalus group and try to do more for awareness. And, finally catch up on reading.

 

[Family Fun Mom]

I have been a stay at home mom since my first child was born 15 years ago and my sanity is perfectly intact.

 

[Poohforyou]

No, I'd just take on more volunteer work. I do a good amount already but there's more I'd like to do if I had the time.

 

[indimom]

I wouldn't, but my family would.
How to put it? if you give me too much time to think, I think too much... Something like that.
If I didn't have work to focus on, I'd focus on my home and family (honestly, it overflows there now) and they simply wouldn't be able to stand me.

 

[cluvsdisney]

I would love the luxury of free time - time to get things done around here, visit with friends, explore new interests. I know I would have to create my own structure but I would be able to do that happily without having to punch a clock.

 

[MIGrandma]

I do "work"....just not outside the home for pay.

I "retired" 4 years ago and love being at home. I have more TIME for everything now and I love that!

Our DD and her family live just down the road from us, so I am available for babysitting more than I used to be and I enjoy that.

I can help out a lot more on the farm, especially during spring planting and fall harvesting seasons.

I do a lot more cooking from scratch, and baking too.

I keep up a lot better with housework and laundry, etc.

I visit my Mom more often and take her shopping, etc.

I am never bored at home, there is always something to do and I just appreciate the fact that I don't HAVE to have an outside job anymore.

 

[antmaril]

I am retired after working for the same company for 36 years. I retired four years ago because my husband was dying of pancreatic cancer. Obviously, my retirement is not what I had dreamed about.

There are parts of retirement that I love -- no alarm clock, no job worries in the middle of the night, etc. I do miss the people and having something to do every day. I volunteer at Hospice and try to keep busy, but some days are long.

I love to travel, but none of my friends love it as much as I do.

 

[lorimay]

I lost my banking job in June of 2011 when the Bank I worked decided to pull out of the state of Florida.

I have been home since and I will never work outside the home again!
There is always something to do around here. My daughter and son-in-law and their 2 kids moved in for 3 weeks back in March after they purchased a home. Its a short sale, LOL they are still waiting to close (Utterly crazy here in Florida).
So with 2 toddlers this place is a nuthouse. Can't wait to have quiet again BUT I will be crying for my babies 2 hours after they leave I'm sure!!!!

 

[PollyannaMom]

I could do it, but having the choice, I work part time. - I substitute teach, so I pick my work days, but it gives me just enough structure that I don't waste the other days when I am home. (Without it, I tend to get a little lazy.)

 

[aprilgail2]

I've always been a stay at home mom but that doesn't mean I don't work- house cleaning, volunteer work, running errands for friends and family who do work etc. besides taking care of my own family.

people who work do all that too- house still needs to be cleaned, clothes need to be washed, errands get run, volunteer work gets done on weekends and random weeknights- its possible to do all of that and work too--

I am retiring in a few months, I will be just doing more volunteer work and working on my house. When I was in my 20's and 30's I would have gone batty staying at home and not working but after 30 years at the same company I am ready to let go LOL

 

[DisneyNutMary]

It depends on my financial situation. If I didn't work, but my family had financial stability, I would fill my time volunteering, going places like museums and parks, going out with friends, etc.
when I was laid off in 2008, finances were a concern, so I hesitated to go out and do things, I volunteered a bit, but close to home; and I was going stir crazy trying to fill my days.

 

[paintnolish]

I'm far closer to going crazy WHILE working! I have three kids, a dog, and a new, much bigger house to look after. My family would keep me busy.

 

[lvillotta1]

I am a nurse and work 3 12 hr shifts a week. It is perfect and pays well. I am a single mom by choice to 2 daughters. I will always have to work and I feel like I am at home a lot with 4 days off a week. Even if I retire down the road nursing is a career that I can always do. Very blessed.

 

[furb & dez]

I've always been a stay at home mom but that doesn't mean I don't work- house cleaning, volunteer work, running errands for friends and family who do work etc. besides taking care of my own family.

I know, I would rather work 40 a week then do that

Totally agree.

people who work do all that too- house still needs to be cleaned, clothes need to be washed, errands get run, volunteer work gets done on weekends and random weeknights- its possible to do all of that and work too--

Exactly. I'm sorry, between the two of us, cleaning the entire house takes less than 2 hours a week (2 and a half if we clean all the windows, interior and exterior). Laundry takes little to zero effort if you don't let it pile up and then have to waste your whole day doing it. Dumping the laundry basket and sorting it into piles takes 2 minutes, tops, and folding takes less than five.

As for the OP's question... yeah, I would go batty if I didn't work. Thankfully, I have an avocation that will keep me busy and "working" (happily!) probably until I die, so I'll never run the risk of that soul-sucking drudgery.

 

[tinkerbellandeeyor]

I might not work like you do low key but DH will back me up when I say I work my but off on top of doing my wife duties around the house

 

[disykat]

I've done both. I was a SAHM, and have sort of alternated either SAHM, part time or full time ever since they started school. All of it kind of feels like the same amount of work to me - it's just different. I can have housework etc. keep me busy all day or I can do it in two hours when I need to. Neither one is superior, just very different.

I'm currently unemployed and trying to decide whether I'm going to reinvent myself in a new career or whether I'm going to be happy just being home. My kids are almost out of the house and I really want to work, but starting a new career as dh is nearing the end of his doesn't make a whole lot of sense.

The first few months I went nuts, but I'm finally settling in to a routine. I had to sort of mourn my job and figure out again who I am without one, but that doesn't mean I'm not capable of creating a life for myself without one. I've taken on some more volunteer projects and I'm so busy some days I can't see straight. If/when I get a job, I'll do my projects differently and pass on some of them to people available in the daytime, but I'll still get it all done. It's just what you do.

 

[diznee25]

I haven't worked in over a year now. The only thing that really drives me crazy is not being able to socialize with co-workers everyday. There's something to be said for that mindless chat!

But otherwise, it's not too bad. The key for me was to have some form of structure, even without a job. That's what I thrived on when I worked. So I still set my alarm, and wake-up to send my DH off to work. And I do things each day to keep busy.

But this lifestyle certainly isn't for everyone. My MIL doesn't understand why I like it. She still works and hasn't retired because she would go stir crazy! Everyone is different.

diznee25

 

[Nancy]

I would not go nuts. I hate working, I have never wanted to work and only do so because I like the extras it brings. If I could do everything I wanted to do and not work I would quit in an instant.

 

[esk]

I've been working since I was 14 and now, at 42, I'm ready for a break. But not taking one because if I did, I wouldn't have any money.

I think it comes down to money.....and this is not a "mommy wars" or "I work just as hard as you do" issue.

If you had the money to do everything you wanted.....travel, go to lunch with friends, donate/volunteer, pay all your bills on a nice house, drive a nice car, would you still work? That's the real question.

Would I still work? Probably not. Would I rather not get up at 5:30 every morning to work out, get ready and be in my office by 8? Would I rather not be stuck in my office until 5 pm when it's a beautiful day or when it's getting nasty out and I just want to be home? Of course not. I'd love to set my own schedule and only do what I want to do....volunteer, watch HGTV all day, test new baking ideas, go for a walk, read a book.

But I can't do that because without working, I can't live in my house and eat. So I work. My parents are retired and they are doing everything they want to do.....travel, going to dinner, working in the yard, buying gifts for the grandkids....now, they aren't spending $500 per grandkid for Christmas but they have enough money to do what they want to do.

And that's what I look forward to. When I have enough to retire, I will. Don't know how much that needs to be, but I know what I have now isn't enough (not in a "Fiscal Cliff" kind of way, but in a "never planned to retire until about 60" kind of way).

It's different when you don't work because you don't need the money, and you don't work because you lost your job. I always expected to work...even after I had kids...never occurred to me not to.

And my Mom was a SAHM and my sister is a SAHM. But that was never my plan.