I saw this article on Slate today about favoring "homemaker" over "stay-at-home mom": http://www.slate.com/articles/double_x/doublex/2014/04/_stay_at_home_mom_needs_to_go_let_s_bring_back_homemaker.html
It made me curious - if you're a stay at home parent, what do you call yourself when people ask about your job? Do you refer to yourself a certain way because some terms have negative connotations?
pomelo / 5678 posts
I'm not really a sahp... but I kind of am? I am an artist and I am used to being ...or feeling (?)...judged from that. I just tell people I am with my daughter right now, or taking care of my daughter. I personally consider, "what do you do?" (but really the concept of defining people by it) to be a bit rude.
I don't think there is some innate difference in/between people that work somewhere else or at home or not at all.
coconut / 8079 posts
I didn't read the entire article, but I'm interested to hear others thoughts on this. LO is only ten weeks old and I will be staying at home with him. I wouldn't think to refer to myself as a homemaker. That term just seems old fashioned to me!
squash / 13208 posts
@raspberries: not a SAHM but I would much rather say "I stay home with my kids" than to say "Oh, I'm a homemaker" - homemaker just sounds so old fashioned!
@Greentea: I usually ask new people "Do you work?" not to define someone by it but purely to make conversation -
blogger / grapefruit / 4836 posts
@jhd: i agree.... I just say that right now i am staying home with lo...i dont love either title.
pear / 1998 posts
I like that homemaker is not gender specific so it could apply to dads that stay at home as well.
I also think it is more encompassing for a spouse that stays at home, but doesn't have children, like a housewife.
I work full time, so it doesn't directly apply to me. I'm fine with whatever people choose to call themselves and will use whatever they prefer.
cantaloupe / 6634 posts
To me, "homemaker" sounds a bit too much like "housewife." Not crazy about the latter term.
pomegranate / 3872 posts
I like homemaker, but I wouldn't say it because I feel like it would weird people out in real life lol. I don't like saying stay at home mom either though. I usually just say I stay at home with my daughter right now.
persimmon / 1135 posts
i will be leaving my job and staying at home with dd, but haven't yet had to answer the question of what i do. not sure how i will answer, but i think "homemaker" sounds a bit dated/50"s-esque. not really a fan. maybe i'll say im a trophy wife.. 
kiwi / 687 posts
Love this.
Stay-at-home feels so Psalm 127 (or 128? whatever) to me, this wife in the recesses of the home who hardly gets out, with sheltered kids and no community, no hobbies. She's given something up. She sounds harried and boring.
I'm on maternity leave and undecided about whether/when/how I'll return to a paycheck. Calling myself a homemaker definitely puts some pressure on, in a good way, to me. Like I had better be using the privilege of full-time mothering to make home a nurturing place for all of us.
Stay-at-home feels limiting to me, homemaker sounds expansive. I'll use it if I become one!
wonderful kiwi / 23653 posts
I just associate the word homemaker an older way of saying SAH? I don't think I'd ever call myself a homemaker if I SAH tho. I'd just say I'm a SAHM.
coconut / 8079 posts
@Mrs. Lion: I haven't had to answer the question yet but will most likely say the same thing as you.
pomegranate / 3113 posts
I haven't read the article, but to me "SAHP" implies that your primary duty is to the kids, while "homemaker" sounds more like the the primary duty is to the household, of which kids might or might not be a component. I WOH but if I didn't, I guess I'd choose whichever I felt described my job more accurately.
nectarine / 2115 posts
"Homemaker" sounds a bit too old-fashioned to me. It makes me think of a 50's housewife in an apron. I prefer to say, "I'm staying at home with the baby."
pomegranate / 3791 posts
To me, homemaker sounds more like housewife - I wouldn't necessarily assume that you have kids. Whereas if you're a stay at home parent, then obviously you do. For that reason, I've always referred to myself as a SAHM.
blogger / grapefruit / 4836 posts
I have also heard the title "household CEO" used in a joking manner and it seems appropriate 
GOLD / pomelo / 5737 posts
I don't love "homemaker" for the reasons others have stated above.
I say "I stay home with my 1 y/o." If I have a longer conversation I go into more detail about it.
I don't feel the need to have a "title" because then it just seems like I'm looking for validation from the working moms/working world/whatever. I don't work outside the home; I don't have or need a title. When I do go back to the work force I will have a title and I won't feel the need to inflate that either.
GOLD / wonderful coffee bean / 18478 posts
I say that I'm with the kids/take care of the kids full time. I don't care for any of the "titles".
papaya / 10343 posts
I have sort of a weird situation since I lost my job 3 days before I had LO (so.. unintentional SAHM? For now? lol). When I don't want to get into a whole explanation, I just tell people I'm on indefinite maternity leave but will probably go back to work at some point.
cherry / 231 posts
I think I like homemaker better, but it does sound old fashioned and no one really says it anymore. So I'd probably say stay at home mom.
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