Just a Housewife? I'm Not 'Just' Anything!: Thoughts on Being a Childless Housewife in Anti-Housewife America

I don't think less of myself for being a childless housewife, or a housewife in general.

Yet mothers, defenders of mothers, and working mothers, are the only ones I get flack from for my views about being a housewife.

It seems to me that those women would prefer it if I thought less of myself as a housewife, since I don't have kids or work outside the home; they would probably prefer it if I also thought less of myself for having a smaller home than theirs with less to take care of; which begs the question: Should people who have less be thought of as less, or think of themselves as less?

No matter the amount of home, money, or family I have, why should I think less of myself, or think that I am less?

After all, if I don't think more of myself, who will? 

Would it improve my life if I thought I was less and moped around my house all day, thinking that all I do is 'chores', and that all I am is a lowly housewife because I am not employed or raising kids?

I could think that way, but it wouldn't improve my life; and if thinking a certain way doesn't improve my life, there is no point in thinking that way.

It is up to me to have a good attitude about my role as a housewife, and I choose not to settle for just a good attitude -- I want to have an extraordinary attitude!

I love not having kids! 

I love taking care of my husband and our home!

I love sleeping late with only a cat, my husband, or an alarm, to wake me up!

I love no longer maintaining a professional license, jumping through CEU hoops, belonging to professional associations, having a boss and coworkers, clocking in, or commuting!

I love not being taxed on an income I don't have!

I love that I didn't wait until retiring in my 60s or 70s to discover how wonderful it is to stay home all day!

I love my lifestyle, and I don't believe I should think less of myself for being 'just' a housewife!

Because I am not 'just' anything and no housewife is 'just' a housewife.

A housewife is an integral part of what makes a home a home, whether it is a home for two or a home overflowing with kids.

A housewife makes her home and the people she loves her top priority; that is a beautiful thing and something that women have been taught to fight against in modern America.

A woman isn't supposed to love caring for her family and her home; a woman is supposed to love her career and breaking glass ceilings, and she's supposed to put her profession before her home and family.

A woman isn't supposed to view being a housewife as her purpose, but rather as a sacrifice; women are fed the idea that a home and a family can't give a woman purpose, and that only a position outside the home can do that. 

A woman isn't supposed to think she can make a difference in the world by being a housewife, and that only being active outside the home makes the world better; but being busy outside the home does not necessarily make a home better, and when a home is not at peace, the world is not at peace.

A woman isn't supposed to think of herself as a success if she stays home and cares for what she cares about most: her husband, her family, her home, and herself.

A woman is supposed to be what other women want her to be: a miserable overworked martyr to her job, her kids, and her husband -- because misery loves company! 

Thanks, but no thanks. 

I refuse to think less of myself for being a housewife or not having kids; or that I don't make a difference, or that I am not successful for leaving the work world to be a full-time dedicated housewife to a husband who is happier with me being a happy housewife than a miserable, stressed-out working woman.

And no woman, or human for that matter, should think less of themselves for doing what makes them happy.

If mothers, their defenders, and working mothers want to think less of me, or think that I am less because I am happy in my home without chasing children or a career, they can do that.

Meanwhile, I will be more than I ever thought I could be, by being the best housewife I can be!