"What are your plans after school?"
I get asked this question a lot, and I used to dread giving an answer. I was only in school because my parents wanted me to be, and I had no intention of getting a job in my field. It was embarrassing and awkward to admit that I was going to do "nothing" with my degree.
It's time for me to quit playing the victim card here.
It's time for me to admit that this is what I chose -- not something unfair that was thrust upon me.
And the truth? The decision I've made for my future isn't common, it isn't popular, and frankly it makes a few people mad -- but it makes me really happy.
And now that I've realized that, I can own it. Now this question has become one of my favorites to answer:
"What are your plans after school?"
I smile. I'm going to be a really educated housewife.
They laugh. "No, I mean career-wise. What are you going to do with your degree?"
They don't get it. See, that is the career. I want to be a well-educated housewife.
My fiancé makes enough money that he doesn't need for me to work in order for us to make ends meet -- and he hasn't topped out yet either. I have the degree so that, in case a desperate circumstance arises and I need to find a job for the good of our family, I can.
But he and I are planning a large family. And I want to be there for all of the firsts, and every moment after that. I want to be there to cook their dinners, to tell them to clean their room, to teach them about the God who loves them more than I ever could, to inform their consciences and discipline them when they're in the wrong, to hug them when they cry, to read to them, to tuck them in at night, and all the other little moments that mean so much more when your mom is there with you.
Yeah, I could probably work from home. Or I could justify being a housewife by deciding to homeschool my kids -- this would require me to stay at home.
And under the right circumstances, one or both of those might become a reality.
But I don't feel like I have to make excuses anymore. Nothing brings me more joy than the hope of being an educated housewife and (God willing) a mother. And my fiancé enjoys being the provider -- he likes knowing that he can take care of me and our future family.
I know a lot of people who have to run on two incomes just to make ends meet. That's a very big reality in our economy, and I have much respect for the couples who make that sacrifice for the good of their family. That being said, I could not see myself taking a job outside the home just so I could feel like I was contributing financially or to make FI and I able to live a little more comfortably.
I don't need the best house, the best clothes, the best cell phone, the best TV screen -- I've found the man I want to spend the rest of my life with -- for richer, for poorer -- and the time I spend with him is far more precious than a job that, at this point in our lives, we don't need for me to have.
Sincerely yours,
Future Homemaker of America
(endangered species: do not hunt)
