Housewife or SAHM??

A few nights ago, I was asked during a CNY gathering of some new friends and a lady asked me who took care of my kids when hubs and I go to work. She had, of course, assumed that I was a salaried employee like most ladies my age.

When I answered her that it was me, myself and I... she looked bewildered and shot me a question, "Oh, so you're a HOUSEWIFE?"

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Now, let me just say that I despise this term because once when I was like most uninitiated folks who used this term, I thought nothing of it, until I became one. The core of the mistake is this is at the most a politically incorrect title and at the least a demeaning term.

Are we married to the house? Do we NOT have a social life like most working women? Well, maybe not quite as glamourous, and we don't dress up when we work (err... yes, we do work.. I'll get to this part shortly) but I'm sure the general population of "housewives" do have friends, even though they may not have glitzy titles or they may be just other housewives down the road or shopowners.

Sure, we don't have to endure the headache of choosing what to wear, which shoe to match (I was like this) etc, but here's what our work entails us to do (note down some similarity):

Chaffeur
For those sending kids to school in the morning, we go through the peak hour jam as well. Having said this, we also have to wake up nearly the same time, if not earlier, than most salaried peers. Oh, and don't forget we have to ferry them back after school and to/fro tuition classes.

Customer Service Executive
We have clients too what... our kids and hubby not our clients meh? Their satisfaction is our aim, and the household is our work place. And they are only our internal clients, what about external clients? We deal with them too!

Finance Manager
We manage finance as well, from what to buy, where to buy, who are the chosen panel of "suppliers", paying creditors (eg school).

Hygiene Supervisor aka Cleaner Lady
With or without a domestic helper, we are in charge of keeping the household, oopss, workplace I mean, clean and tidy and devoid of any unsafe objects.

All the above and probably more!! Having said all these, so, is SAHM even a correct term? We should be called Work At Home Moms (WAHMs)!

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So what was my answer to the housewife question??

I just said "No, I'm a Stay-At-Home-Mom."