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Post by christine58 on Feb 6, 2024 11:28:50 GMT
My mom did not work outside the home until I think my youngest brother was a junior in high school. My younger brother and I were away at college when she started driving school bus for a friend who had started a bus company that would take kids to private schools or special education schools. She did that for a few years and then she took a job as a teaching assistant. I think it filled her time when all three of us were away at college. she left the job as a teaching assistant when my grandma got sick. She spent the last year of my grandma’s life with her on a daily basis.
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Post by Spongemom Scrappants on Feb 6, 2024 12:14:01 GMT
My parents were married 18 years before I was born. They had long given up n being able to have children when I came along. So despite enjoying her work, my mama stayed home with me until I was junior high age. She went back then for her own desires and because I was pretty self-sufficient. I had been raised in a very adult world and was a straight arrow kind of kid. I was perfectly fine home alone.
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Post by jeremysgirl on Feb 6, 2024 12:17:59 GMT
My mom worked as a secretary before I was born in 1975. When I was about a year old, she went back part time and my Gram and my aunt babysat me. When my sister was born in 1978, she quit completely. She was pregnant with my brother in 1980 and my dad lost his job (steelworker) in that recession. So she went back to work until my dad finally found another steelworking position in 1982 at a plant in Michigan. We relocated to a very small town. My mom stayed at home then until I was 12 in 1987. She has worked full time since then and about 25 years ago, she started her own business. It is very successful and she is still working 2 days a week.
I, myself, left my job when Chloe was born. I wasn't making much money and I was commuting an hour away and so had I gone back to work, there wouldn't have been much money left after daycare. So I quit. And then 18 months later, I had Esther. I knew I wanted two children, close in age. I stayed home until Esther went to kindergarten. So I spent 6 years at home. I always knew I wanted to go back to work. Not only the cost of daycare being prohibitive, but I actually was glad I was able to be home during those years with them even though I always knew I wanted a career.
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Post by compeateropeator on Feb 6, 2024 12:27:27 GMT
Yes. Actually probably more than full time as years went on. I went to a babysitter until I started Kindergarten and then afterschool and on school holidays until I was old enough to stay alone (around 10/11). I had the same babysitter for my whole childhood and they were like a second family.
There were even times when both parents were working full time jobs and we owned and operated a small business.
My Mom is 80 and still works 3 days a week just because she likes to and wants to. 😄
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Post by littlemama on Feb 6, 2024 12:35:37 GMT
My mom started working when I was about 8. She worked at a school, so she was almost always home before I was. When I started Junior High, she moved to an office role with in the admin offices of the district. She worked there until she retired.(changed roles, but same sort of work).
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Post by lisae on Feb 6, 2024 12:45:48 GMT
Yes and No. My parents ran a retail business that was beside of our home. When Daddy's duties took him away from the shop or when customers needed Mother's help, she had to be there. It was just the 2 of them open over 60 hours per week with no employees. She could be in the house but she was always 'on call.' Her other responsibility besides raising me was a chauffeur to a mother and mother-in-law, neither of whom drove. She was a busy woman.
I spent a lot of time in the shop and in the yard. Because of the shop, I was never on the property without a parent.
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iluvpink
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 4,288
Location: Michigan
Jul 13, 2014 12:40:31 GMT
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Post by iluvpink on Feb 6, 2024 12:45:52 GMT
Well my parents divorced when I was around one year old. My mom didn't work that I can remember until I was about five. However at age six my dad and stepmom got custody of me and my stepmom did work full time until I was fifteen.
I grew up being closest to my stepmom's large family (vs both my dad and mom's families). All my aunts worked full time. My grandmother did not work full time/have a career but she did do seasonal work on family farms when her kids were younger and when I was a child did babysitting for neighborhood families. And our parents paid her to watch us during summers/holidays etc at times, same for our cousins.
ETA when my parents were working, we either went to our grandmother's house (summers and long school breaks) or had a regular babysitter that came to our house. I'd say until I was around 12. My parents both worked night shift on the line for General Motors. Around 12-13 my mom switched to days. We were rarely left home alone, came home alone. When I was fifteen the plant where my mom worked shut down and she decided to take a buyout and not move to another plant with my father. She didn't work for a few years, then did part time retail for a few years. Then she watched dd and my cousin until they started school, cared for my grandmother. Then after that did part time work again until last year.
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peppermintpatty
Pearl Clutcher
Refupea #1345
Posts: 3,841
Jun 26, 2014 17:47:08 GMT
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Post by peppermintpatty on Feb 6, 2024 12:49:03 GMT
Nope. My dad was a physician so my mom didn't need to work. When we were teenagers, she would work a couple days a week in my dad's practice but other than that, she was a SAHM.
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Post by iamkristinl16 on Feb 6, 2024 13:17:53 GMT
My mom was a teacher when I was born. I was born in May and she went back to work in the fall. My parents divorced when I was four years old. My mom started taking graduate classes (about 4 hours away) during the summers when I was probably 7 or 8. We had a babysitter come and stay with us during the week while she was in class, or we were with our dad more in the summer. When she finished she became a high school guidance counselor.
My stepmom always worked as well.
My grandmothers also worked, but I am not sure how old their kids were when they started.
Most of my aunts on both sides also worked.
For myself and my sisters and sisters in law, of the ones who have kids four are SAHM’s and five work.
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Post by whipea on Feb 6, 2024 13:25:07 GMT
Yes, always remember her working. Both parents worked full-time. She was a Draftsman, unusual for women at the time, 1950/60s. I remember the newspaper did an article on her as a working mother. When I was very little I remember asking her why she didn't stay home like the rest of the mothers.
Had babysitters until about 8 or 9, then went feral! Latch key all the way and I have the scars to prove it! Was taught to be independent and self-reliant from an early age and overall was very responsible.
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Post by smasonnc on Feb 6, 2024 13:38:04 GMT
My mom taught elementary school from the time I was six. She left our dad and my brother, sister, and I lived with our grandparents. It was like we each had a parent. A few years later she remarried and we went to the same school where my mom taught so we went to her classroom after school
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smartypants71
Drama Llama
Posts: 5,709
Location: Houston, TX
Jun 25, 2014 22:47:49 GMT
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Post by smartypants71 on Feb 6, 2024 13:38:33 GMT
Not until my parents divorced when I was around 14 or 15
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pantsonfire
Pearl Clutcher
Take a step back, evaluate what is important, and enjoy your life with those who you love.
Posts: 4,762
Jun 19, 2022 16:48:04 GMT
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Post by pantsonfire on Feb 6, 2024 13:40:40 GMT
No. It wasn't until I was 8 years old that she went back to part time work. And she stayed in that position until she retired. My grandma and grandpa helped out with pick ups, when I was sick and my mom couldn't take a day off, during summer when year around became a thing. Yes and no. Mom started working when my younger brother was in kindergarten, so I was in second grade. I would have been 7-8 years old. We went to a neighbor’s house for an hour or so until Dad got home. When I was 10, I started babysitting my brother after school so that mom didn’t have to pay the neighbor lady, but my brother still went there in the summer. I may have for a year or so, but then just stayed home myself once I started babysitting (at age 10)! Can you imagine hiring a 10 year old to babysit your kids?!! I don’t remember anyone ever getting us when we were kids if we were sick. They both worked in Minneapolis, which was a good 45 minutes from the elementary school and an hour from the MS/HS. I had friends that babysat at 10 in the 80s so not too surprising. The hours were during school and unless we had early out that didn't match mom's time off, that is when grandma and grandpa picked me up.
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Post by lily on Feb 6, 2024 13:46:53 GMT
Yes....when I was in like 4th grade she started working. She worked for our church but it was a full time job as the office secretary. She worked there until she retired at like 62 or so. We would go home on the bus and my brother had a housekey. We had some chores to do and homework until she got home, then we could go outside.
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Post by Merge on Feb 6, 2024 14:04:31 GMT
My mom didn't work outside the home at all until I was almost finished with high school. My younger sister was about 10 at the time so she remembers a much longer period of no mom at home after school.
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Post by workingclassdog on Feb 6, 2024 14:19:40 GMT
Yep my mom worked most of the time.. we moved around a lot, like over 20 times growing up, so she never did stay with anyone long term. She usually worked nights while my dad worked days. She was a key punch operator for years. I still not even sure to this day what that really is. lol
Once my parents divorced she got a job with BP (Amoco at the time), and stayed with them until she retired. She was there to get a retirement and husband.. haha.. They both retired on the same day with full benefits, insurance, severance, a year's pay and then unemployment. They both went to work one day, was asked if they wanted to retire with the package deal and they went home. Can't imagine getting that these days.
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Post by lbp on Feb 6, 2024 14:24:40 GMT
Yes, full time. She always told me to never rely on anyone else for my livelyhood. I have worked full time as well. I took off 4 weeks when I had my son.
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Post by mom on Feb 6, 2024 15:07:04 GMT
Yes, my mother was a school teacher and then a school librarian.
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pinklady
Drama Llama
Posts: 5,535
Nov 14, 2016 23:47:03 GMT
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Post by pinklady on Feb 6, 2024 15:17:49 GMT
I was a latch key kid from kindergarten thru 6th grade. I walked or rode my bike home from school. My elementary school was about a half mile away but in our neighborhood. It was such a different time in the 70s/80s. My mom only worked a few miles from home so I could call her and she'd be home in a few minutes if anything was wrong. My mom quit her job when I started junior high because she knew that's when the real trouble could start. She was right. All my friends who were home alone until 6pm when their parents got home from work caused nothing but trouble. I was rarely able to partake but it sure was fun when I did.
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Anita
Drama Llama
Posts: 5,646
Location: Kansas City -ish
Jun 27, 2014 2:38:58 GMT
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Post by Anita on Feb 6, 2024 15:51:46 GMT
She tried to. She drove a bus for a while. She worked as a hostess at a restaurant. She tried to go back to school. But my dad was very controlling and would lash out at her if dinner wasn't on the table when he got home. So, she quit until she got sick of his shit and divorced him.
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lavawalker1
Full Member
Posts: 452
Jul 9, 2021 21:41:57 GMT
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Post by lavawalker1 on Feb 6, 2024 15:58:13 GMT
My mom worked while I was in school. She worked in the cafeteria and in yard duty at a different school than where I attended.
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Post by imkat on Feb 6, 2024 16:27:33 GMT
My mom resumed fulltime work when I started preschool. She took a break when my brother was born, and honestly I think she was unhappy staying home all the time and living on my father's salary only.
When I was in fifth grade, she started working part time and then worked fulltime around eighth grade. I watched my brother after school, and my dad had a flexible sales job, so he was often home in the late afternoon. My mom had a strong work ethic and really enjoyed working. She continued working part time into her early 70s when health issues prevented her from doing so.
I always worked full-time although I wished I could have worked part-time for some of my career. But my daughters have told me multiple times that I was a good role model for them, just like my mom was for me.
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Post by katlady on Feb 6, 2024 17:32:54 GMT
She was a key punch operator for years. I still not even sure to this day what that really is. lol My mom was a key punch operator for awhile. It was how they used to get data into computers. You typed on a machine that made holes in a card, and the card was fed into a card reader, and the holes were read. If you made a typo, you had to toss the card and redo it. My first time learning about computers was right when card punch machines were being phased out and data started being entered the way we do now, through typing on a screen.
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Post by epeanymous on Feb 6, 2024 17:46:54 GMT
My mother did not work. It was a huge source of friction in our home because money was tight and my mother had been a successful hair stylist who had been a significant source of household income and had a flexible schedule; she quit when I was about 2.5 and refused to go back. Years later, when she wanted to leave my father, they had literally zero savings and she had been out of the workforce too long to go back to her profession. I amsure that is part of why I never seriously considered not being a working parent.
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Rhondito
Pearl Clutcher
MississipPea
Posts: 4,662
Jun 25, 2014 19:33:19 GMT
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Post by Rhondito on Feb 6, 2024 17:56:14 GMT
No, she was always a SAHM and housewife. I'm 55 and grew up in the 70s & 80s and a lot of the moms of my friends were the same.
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Post by papersilly on Feb 6, 2024 17:59:46 GMT
yes. <<raises hand>> latch key kid right here. both my parents worked so, as the oldest, i was in charge of keeping an eye on the other two and starting dinner.
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Post by peasapie on Feb 6, 2024 18:05:37 GMT
My mom stayed home until the youngest (me) was around 12.
Then I had to take over cooking dinner, house cleaning and laundry, which I hated. My brothers were already mowing the lawn, washing the floors, trimming the hedges.
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Post by jenb72 on Feb 6, 2024 18:18:31 GMT
Not when I was under the age of 12, no, but soon thereafter she went back to work full time at our local elementary school as the principal's secretary.
Jen
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Post by lurker on Feb 6, 2024 18:45:17 GMT
Yes, she worked at a local bank for 45 years.
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Post by compeateropeator on Feb 6, 2024 19:10:16 GMT
She was a key punch operator for years. I still not even sure to this day what that really is. lol My mom was a key punch operator for awhile. It was how they used to get data into computers. You typed on a machine that made holes in a card, and the card was fed into a card reader, and the holes were read. If you made a typo, you had to toss the card and redo it. My first time learning about computers was right when card punch machines were being phased out and data started being entered the way we do now, through typing on a screen. When I started my first bank job I work nights for the check processing department. We processed all the paper transactions for internal (general ledger accounts) and customer transactions (teller related and checks). The other department that worked nights was key punch. 😄 That was a long time ago, it is amazing how much technology has changed every industry.
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