Summary

A full-time housewife reflects on a decade of managing her home, raising her children, and juggling multiple roles without formal recognition or incentives, while also finding opportunities for personal and academic growth.

Abstract

The author of the article shares her experiences as a full-time housewife over ten years, a role she agreed upon with her husband, a missionary often away from home. She highlights the multifaceted nature of her responsibilities, likening herself to a manager without a portfolio, as she takes on roles from cook to nurse to educator. Despite the lack of external recognition or financial incentives, she values the opportunity to be present for her children's growth and has leveraged e-learning to further her education. The article conveys the sacrifices and challenges of being a full-time housewife, as well as the personal fulfillment and adaptability it requires.

Opinions

The author views her role as a full-time housewife as one of significant responsibility and impact, despite the lack of societal recognition or tangible rewards.
She expresses that being a full-time housewife involves sacrificing personal career aspirations and often means that one's academic qualifications may not be utilized in a traditional job setting.
The author emphasizes the importance of her role in shaping her children's behavior and the family's values, which she considers as valuable as her husband's missionary work.
She acknowledges the potential for financial contribution through alternative means, even while being a stay-at-home parent, and takes pride in being a co-breadwinner.
The author has a positive perspective on the personal growth and academic development she has achieved during her time as a housewife, thanks to e-learning opportunities.
She notes the evolution of her role as her children grow, indicating a shift from hands-on caregiving to more of a companion role, allowing for shared experiences like visiting the beach.
The author finds creative uses for household items, turning broken pots and plates into a garden, symbolizing adaptability and resourcefulness.
She reflects on her journey with a sense of accomplishment, describing herself as a "jack of all trades" who has also pursued writing and publishing books as part of her personal development.

10 Years of Being a FullTime Housewife; 10 Years of 10 Lessons

I am a Manager without a portfolio

Photo by **Julien Pouplar**d via **Unsplash**

Yes, that is what you are when you are a full-time housewife. You have been appointed as a manager but without a portfolio. At the end of every month and year, there will never be a promotion for you but there will be additions of tasks.

In your office as a home manager, there is no job specification.

You are a cook and you are a home doctor. Whenever anyone falls ill, the edge of the bed becomes your office stand.

You are a nanny and you are the home teacher. You don't have an early business meeting in the office but you wake up early every morning with those who hold office appointments.

As a full-time housewife, you are a doubled ranked nurse. But you are a nurse without a portfolio. Your eyes are your laboratory. Your eyes tell you when the kids and Dad are not well. You nurse with your breasts. You also nurse with your soul.

At the end of the year, there will be an increase in team members in your office. Your team members do not reduce your tasks; they add to them. They are Oliver Twist. All they want is some more.

My Little Angel Flies Back Home in the Name of Winged Termites

And to know that it ended in my neighbors' pot is heartbreaking

medium.com

Your team members will always make you scream and scold. Those members are beautiful angels but they always make us scream.

I have 5 team members and they are boys. The fourth and the fifth were added at the same time (twin birth).

Photo by **M. T EIGassie**r on **Unsplash**

****

I knew I would be a full-time housewife before I became a wife. It was an agreement between my husband and me.

I married a church missionary who has a great zeal for evangelism. His mission works take him away from home always. He loves his job, the job of a shepherd. But he doesn't want to raise Hophni and Phinehas at home.

Staying at home with the kids until the last born is 12 years old was the first agreement I had with my husband during our courtship. The way he treasures the missionary work is the same way he treasures his own family and the behavior of his kids.

I agreed with him. I wasn't quite sure what I was agreeing on. If I had known what a fulltime housewife was all about from the beginning, I wouldn't have obliged.

But I don't think so. I love Phil. I will still agree to stay at home for our kids.

I have learned a lot in all these years. A lot has happened to me. A lot has shaped my views about life.

Its been 10 years of 10 Lessons

* My Kitchen has become my Industry and my manufacturing room

As a full-time housewife, I do not do the cooking in my kitchen alone. I am a local producer. My kitchen is my manufacturing room.

* Being a full-time housewife is a sacrifice

I learned that being a full-time house means to forget your dream career. Whatever certificate you have acquired will be kept under the box.

* Being a fulltime housewife is an opportunity for academic development.

I have used these years to upgrade my academic level. Thanks to E-learning.

* I can earn income even as a fulltime housewife.

Full-time is no longer idling away at home. Being a full-time housewife does not mean you should become a financial parasite to your spouse.

I am a full-time housewife but I am a co breadwinner.

ÍKEKETÓRIĒ: I Crossed the Bars on Medium; All By My Own Strength

Meet the writer with 100 articles who earned without a single curation

medium.com

* Being a fulltime housewife is becoming a Manager without a portfolio.

Yes. I have written about this. As a full-time housewife, you are the manager of the home. But no one recognizes this title. You are doing all the works at home yet people see you as a lazy and idle wife.

But I no longer care. I am making an impact and it is reflecting in my home.

* There is no promotion or incentives in the office of the full-time housewife

The office managers are promoted with incentives but I have learned that there is no recognition for being a housewife even when it entails enormous tasks. It is 10 years of working tirelessly inside but in the eyes of others, I am lazy and idle.

Every year my neighbors who are career women brought homes many awards from their offices. But I have none. I am a top manager at home, a top manager without a portfolio.

* It is 10 years of growing with the kids

How time flies. There were those years that I couldn't cope at home alone because my husband was absent. But as the kids grow, I grow and mature with them both in thinking and perception.

I look at my boys and see how fast they have grown, I shudder. I am also growing with them. I am no longer screaming because they have outgrown that stage. I am learning to go out and sit at the beach because the kids love to. I am growing as they are growing.

* My broken pots and plates have become my garden

This is one of the lessons I learned as a fulltime housewife. When a pot becomes old, it becomes a garden. I have come to learn about the usefulness of broken containers, plates, and pots.