tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5089828552519076506.post4929145904149125609..comments2024-03-28T15:55:53.792+10:00Comments on down to earth: Finding your value at home - part 2Unknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger63125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5089828552519076506.post-73065875977587140022012-09-18T11:05:59.672+10:002012-09-18T11:05:59.672+10:00Hi! I just wanted to ask if you ever have any prob...Hi! I just wanted to ask if you ever have any problems <br />with hackers? My last blog (wordpress) was hacked and I ended <br />up losing a few months of hard work due to no backup.<br />Do you have any solutions to protect against hackers?<br /><br /><br /><a href="http://www.prescription-swimming-goggles.info/modest-swimwear.html" title="Prescription Swimming Goggles<br /><br />Prescription Swimming Goggles" rel="nofollow">Prescription Swimming Goggles</a><br /><i>Visit my web blog</i> ; <b><a href="http://www.prescription-swimming-goggles.info/modest-swimwear.html" rel="nofollow">Prescription Swimming Goggles</a></b>Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5089828552519076506.post-70275432358315337072012-07-23T17:27:34.318+10:002012-07-23T17:27:34.318+10:00Well said Rhonda. We all need to value family more...Well said Rhonda. We all need to value family more and appreciate what it takes to make a loving home. It's so sad to see what the lack of family life is doing to society. I absolutely loved being a stay at home Mum until my children were in high school and wouldn't change it for anything. I now work part time for many reasons but I know the time I put into my family has more than paid off.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5089828552519076506.post-29153590514649273382012-05-16T17:22:20.172+10:002012-05-16T17:22:20.172+10:00I am glad that you point out that being a stay at ...I am glad that you point out that being a stay at home mum or homemaker is a career in itself. I think some of the reason that people dont value it and some people feel guilt for being a homemaker is that there are so many people who dont run their homes like its a career or full time job. I am not saying Ill be the worlds best homemaker, but Ill certainly be trying to do as much as I can around the home to make our home lives more enjoyable and money conscious.Kristyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05369451897799277578noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5089828552519076506.post-65494885799434292362012-05-07T15:29:45.213+10:002012-05-07T15:29:45.213+10:00Hi all, I read this post with great interest . J...Hi all, I read this post with great interest . Just goes to prove we women are way too hard on ourselves AND each other. However i can not help but add- why do we have to decide hoem OR work, we can do both!. I work part time , which gives me enough time to stimulate myself and earn an income, but also allows me to spend time with our daughter , cook from scratch, have a garden, be a homemaker essentially. With mine and my husband salary we can afford to travel , which is my life long dream. i have about 20 places on my wish list, so to speak, and we are crossing them off slowly. It is a good balance, and working well for us.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5089828552519076506.post-63031912651748730132012-05-05T03:48:22.942+10:002012-05-05T03:48:22.942+10:00For one year, I tracked my savings on my old Xanga...For one year, I tracked my savings on my old Xanga blog, PennyAnnPoundwise which is still live though I blog elsewhere now. In that year, my slightly skewed figures reported my savings as over $20,000. Why were my figures skewed? Because there were things I simply could not compute into an actual savings amount. There were also things I did on a daily basis that I computed as only one day or one month of savings. Even so, I 'earned' as much as my husband that year! <br /><br />Now that our children are grown and flown, we've discussed my going back to work. I have the skills and am by no means limited in my knowledge or ability. I am however, limited by time. I cannot continue to do all I do to promote savings (which includes many new methods since those first figures were computed) in my home and work full time, too. In fact, I doubt I could earn as much 'real' money as I save. It is those figures upon which my husband relies when he looks at me and says honestly "We can't afford for you to go to work."!terricheneyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06865436021565986224noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5089828552519076506.post-43998839978108397742012-05-03T10:14:05.003+10:002012-05-03T10:14:05.003+10:00I love the phrase "own your life". What...I love the phrase "own your life". Whatever decisions I make in life, I want to stand up proudly and say, "Yes. This is who I am and how I have chosen to live my life."Kristinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13536367644489240629noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5089828552519076506.post-1056947570718138552012-05-03T08:34:28.359+10:002012-05-03T08:34:28.359+10:00Too much emphasis is placed on both parents earnin...Too much emphasis is placed on both parents earning an income. My husband doesn't work, it's a choice based on his anxiety amongst other things, & we get no support from the government either. It's our choice & a way of life living on one small income. People think it's lazy but I take pride in my work but at the end of the day if he could work we would never see each other & if I passed on tomorrow I would have no regrets.Serialstylerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03714714092794558706noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5089828552519076506.post-34656107556438437622012-05-03T08:12:01.236+10:002012-05-03T08:12:01.236+10:00My 5 yr olds are going to school in the fall, and ...My 5 yr olds are going to school in the fall, and i have been sitting here deliberating the very decision to go bck to work when my twins go to school. This article was very timely to me. Thank you so much!Christahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02129282959410605697noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5089828552519076506.post-14018075198836887142012-05-02T23:53:27.858+10:002012-05-02T23:53:27.858+10:00Thank you so much for this reminder. My boys are ...Thank you so much for this reminder. My boys are 12 and 18. I tutor and stay at home. Sometimes I feel like society does not see any value in what I do. We struggle and I feel guilty. I also feel lonely sometimes because everyone else works and there is little socialization with the outside world. It is a thankless job at times.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5089828552519076506.post-92061901821883088762012-05-02T21:19:48.937+10:002012-05-02T21:19:48.937+10:00I too was a stay at home Mum for the first 15 year...I too was a stay at home Mum for the first 15 years we were married.I had 3 children aged 14,12 and 6. That is when I joined the workforce , through neccessity I might add. It was hard work, juggling a fulltime job and making a home in a new country.(We came from Scotland ). My weekends were spent washing ,cleaning gardening and baking.I shopped during my lunch break. We never went holidays because one of us would stay home with the children during school holidays but we still had fun and our children never felt hard done by because of this. We used to go on lots of picnics to parks and beaches .Their lunch boxes were always filled with homemade goodies.Sandwiches were always made up on Sundays and frozen ready to be taken out each day .I had to be super efficient otherwise it wouldn't have worked.We put money away every week for bills,Christmas and Easter.Now my children are all married with children of their own.They often say how they admired us as they never went short of anything.Always warm at home ,good clothes ,good food etc.My 2 daughter's are wonderful homemakers ,great bakers too, I like to think they learned some of it from me.Never feel guilty about being a stay at home Mum , you are all to be admired.I saw both sides and I know which Mum I would prefer to be.Margaretnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5089828552519076506.post-86958020877399648052012-05-02T20:07:27.480+10:002012-05-02T20:07:27.480+10:00I love reading of such affirmation for the importa...I love reading of such affirmation for the importance and value of life in the home....<br />I grew up in a financially 'well-off' family in a small rural community. We were not over indulged at all but there was always feeling that things were possible/within reach and we were encouraged to dream and follow our inspiration.However about us within most families it was a matter of learning to and finding work in order to survive.There were also those who i felt had more choice than they were aware of and i watched them maintain dreary safe routines and the right to complain about it.... I think the work ethic is a strangely entrenched attitude in our society. Such comments as 'to work for your living', 'to earn your living' and even the simple question, 'are you working?' have very deep meaning if you think about them.....<br />It's strange how things 'work', it's actually taken me 'till these latest few years to really embrace the choice and freedom of my situation. As a young person I all but torn myself up over working for my own sense of worth rather than my need for money. I had such conflict knowing i did not 'have' to work in comparison to many of my friends and I interpreted their lives as more vital and essential and my own as kind of superfluous and voluntarily....<br />Now days I am working at home and in community, mostly unpaid. I love the sense that what i do is not for an economic system alone. Yes my being home does save money but it also enables me to really work for a living I believe in....in nature with care, close to family and community....i love working!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5089828552519076506.post-27106183198520127852012-05-02T13:29:37.291+10:002012-05-02T13:29:37.291+10:00Thanks Rhonda.
I am home now almost 5 years. It to...Thanks Rhonda.<br />I am home now almost 5 years. It took me the first 2 years to make the mental shift that I AM adding to the house. That I AM adding value. That it IS value! It was hard. My DH supported me so much and motivated me all the way.<br />Only the past year or so have I delved into homemaking! Yay! I've picked up mealplanning and cleaning. And some days I loose focus but I am motivated by my families' response! We are preparing for our first real vegetable garden in summer (going into winter here in South Africa) and I am already searching for ways to preserve, can and store our harvest!<br />I've taken up sewing this year and finished my first small quilt. My oldest boy asked that I pls adjust it to fit all of us! I am collecting patterns to start sewing my boys' clothes for winter next year. Last winter and knitted scarves and fingerless mittens for them.<br />Part of our coming home +-5 years ago we did the costing around working or homemaking! And it was amazing how 'expensive' it was to work!!! That was my motivation to try. From time to time I think it is probably easier to work and where I worked, the work was a lot 'easier' than now being home and in my 'dark' days of 'battle' I wanted to go back to work. <br />But I am glad to be home. It is hard work but the returns of raising the next generation (and we added homeschooling too!), caring for my hubby and children, preparing a meal, making our surroundings a home, etc is all worth it!<br />My DH says that having his wife home has removed quite some stress from his life!!!!! I never thought that! And it has enabled him to be even more effective. Incredible.<br />Thank you for your post and your blog. I come back here while planning and preparing for more homemaking things in our house.<br />God bless<br />Ananda<br />South AfricaAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5089828552519076506.post-29184533509598793422012-05-02T10:33:48.896+10:002012-05-02T10:33:48.896+10:00Three cheers to you Rhonda. Well Done. MaryThree cheers to you Rhonda. Well Done. MaryAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5089828552519076506.post-90136906804281384502012-05-02T08:23:14.011+10:002012-05-02T08:23:14.011+10:00One easy way of seeing how much you can save is by...One easy way of seeing how much you can save is by costing out jobs you do because you have the time. I had a quote for window cleaning (inside and out) - modern low set house but loads of windows - $280!!! So I saved $280 the other day - took me all day! I do work full time now but gave up work with each of my two boys when they were born, going back to part time work when they were 2 and full time only when the youngest was almost at high school. Like others have said here, I could never earn enough to pay child care and come out ahead. Everyone has to do what suits their situation and we had a time when my husband was unemployed and I had to work two jobs.<br />SUE<br /><br />SueSusanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11267604566635468971noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5089828552519076506.post-52897909352437432732012-05-02T05:58:48.296+10:002012-05-02T05:58:48.296+10:00Hi Rhonda,
Amen! We do see our home as a business...Hi Rhonda, <br />Amen! We do see our home as a business and I am one of two managers. We each have our chores. I have had people ask what I do all day. They say they would be bored. I answer,"I would love to be bored for a day." Then when I tell them of my garden and preserving food. They usually say I wish I had time to do that. I too have no problem with anyone who chooses to work outside the home. We are not all the same. I do believe we can all live more simply though and that's why I love your blog. The things you do and talk about everyone can do.Keep it coming!<br />CarolAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5089828552519076506.post-6900045552339124492012-05-02T05:14:07.404+10:002012-05-02T05:14:07.404+10:00It's been described as the 'home economy&#...It's been described as the 'home economy' and there is real value there. I wrote about it here http://permaculturepathways.blogspot.com.au/2011/05/home-economy.html Being at home does make a big difference. SonyaSonyahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14083230049055990017noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5089828552519076506.post-8944056437125606822012-05-02T03:50:39.662+10:002012-05-02T03:50:39.662+10:00I wholly agree with your two posts, Rhonda. But I...I wholly agree with your two posts, Rhonda. But I do have a question: For those women who have never worked outside the home, how do they accumulate any sort of retirement nest egg to protect themselves in the event of a (heaven forbid!) divorce? I love my husband dearly - divorce was never in either of our minds - and thankfully, we are both at an age where we have retirement income coming in, but I'm just wondering how younger women might prepare themselves just in case they are unexpectedly left alone without job experience or income if there were a divorce. My husband and I pool all our money (not a huge amount, you understand), so I've never thought about my having a separate savings account. What is your take on such a situation as I've posed?<br /><br />Thanks from Diane in North CarolinaJimmiehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16620266780624532300noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5089828552519076506.post-28585680378003049152012-05-02T02:04:38.153+10:002012-05-02T02:04:38.153+10:00Such a timely post Rhonda! It really made me smile...Such a timely post Rhonda! It really made me smile today, you haven no idea. :) Where I live we get a lot of critics for my choice to be a homemaker, and I've heard so much about "contributing financially" and being "dependent on my husband" etc. We really are a team, but sometimes you forget when others see you in a degrading light. Today I made a fresh batch of yoghurt, picked up some oxtail bones from our local butcher for stew with yorkshire pudding, and I don't feel miserable at all. :D Thank you for this encouraging post. It's a great reminder that there ARE others out there. :)Well, the garden is calling, so I must go.<br />Thanks again for posting.<br />The Girl in the Pink DressThe Girl in the Pink Dresshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00250837836714463827noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5089828552519076506.post-17355739598327302112012-05-02T01:32:55.154+10:002012-05-02T01:32:55.154+10:00Whew--what a great post, Rhonda! So well said. I h...Whew--what a great post, Rhonda! So well said. I have been spending a really ridiculous amount of time lately using my Christmas-present-from-kind-husband iPad to download old Good Housekeeping (as in, 1880-1915 era) mags from GoogleBooks. They're FASCINATING. They constantly make this point -- that women (or men, too, nowdays!) really make monetary contributions to the family by running the household well and taking their contributions seriously.<br /><br />As someone above pointed out, of course, it makes us nervous to say this sometimes b/c we're afraid we'll sound sexist (and I'm here to say that some of those articles were anti-women's suffrage), but your excellent point remains. <br /><br />Thanks for your always excellent and thoughtful writing.<br /><br />kristinThe Cherry Tree Farmhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13561834372312713466noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5089828552519076506.post-10657456667134088812012-05-02T00:29:50.829+10:002012-05-02T00:29:50.829+10:00My goodness :) very well put!
I was a daycare p...My goodness :) very well put! <br />I was a daycare provider for 16 years and I could see how torn some of the Moms were.Nancyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00253430884616512454noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5089828552519076506.post-1869632562601368852012-05-02T00:19:32.451+10:002012-05-02T00:19:32.451+10:00Another great post even better than yesterdays. Lo...Another great post even better than yesterdays. Loved the photos especially the one with Hanno and your grand baby and the biscuits look yum. I long for the simple life. Jodie.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5089828552519076506.post-15987771297803383922012-05-01T22:47:55.808+10:002012-05-01T22:47:55.808+10:00Thank you for what you say, because you say it so ...Thank you for what you say, because you say it so well. I never felt when I was a stay at home mother that it was my husband's money. It was our money. I earnt it too! We decided I was to stay at home and I loved to be there. My choice. I am a feminist and to me that means as you say - supporting ALL women in their choices and making sure we have them. Staying at home still means you develop important skills and use your intelligence. We are not all the same though, and need to be able to function where and in ways we feel best able to.<br /><br />Women need to recognise their own status regardless of where they do their work and if they are paid or not. Women often are the ones doing the under-mining and it happens if you work or stay at home. People always have nasty judgements to make.<br /><br />My husband fully supported me while I was at home (in his attitude I mean). I didn't need to ask him for anything. The bank account was open to me at all times. You both have to believe it is a combined partnership for it to work. If one is resentful then you have problems. I didn't ever have to justify myself to him, so why to the world? <br /><br />I never struggled with my identity. I am me and I define who that is. It isn’t inherent in what I do at work or in the fact that I am given a certain status doing a paid job in society; my esteem comes from within from my own value judgements. Other people have a problem with unpaid work which is sad. Tell people you do voluntary work and many will sneer and say 'oh, can't they pay you?' Such a poor attitude!<br />KateAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5089828552519076506.post-17589884103542117782012-05-01T22:34:04.665+10:002012-05-01T22:34:04.665+10:00I applied for a loan yesterday and struggled with ...I applied for a loan yesterday and struggled with which label to use. A student or a stay-at-home-mum. It sat heavy in my mind that I'm not contributing financially. Thanks for writing about the value of home making. I know my hubby and kids value it. It's great to read it in your blog too.Ro from Earthdownunderhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11174156350914252462noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5089828552519076506.post-13555076466170120152012-05-01T21:33:20.241+10:002012-05-01T21:33:20.241+10:00Brilliant post Rhonda.Brilliant post Rhonda.Jotohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06025269638300442436noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5089828552519076506.post-42468486195211634692012-05-01T20:24:39.115+10:002012-05-01T20:24:39.115+10:00Nicely said..its so sad that parents have this pre...Nicely said..its so sad that parents have this pressure put upon them..i am a SAHM and damned proud of it..<br />saraflowertotmumhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03498443996707884535noreply@blogger.com