A grand slam against stay-at-home parenting?

Rating: 3 after 3 votes

What a great mom story — Kim Clijsters nabbed the U.S. Open, the first mom to win the grand slam title in 29 years.

Another tennis mom has been making her comeback, too — Sybille Bammer, a 29-year-old Austrian who lives with her boyfriend, Christophe Gschwendtner, father of their 8-year-old daughter, Tina.

Bammer, who lost her record-breaking run at the U.S. Open in the quarterfinals, credits her partner for supporting her. And, boy, did he; It was Gschwendtner’s idea that Bammer, then 21, get back to playing tennis after giving birth, and to make it easier for her, he gave up his career as a manufacturing engineer for five years to be Mr. Mom.

Now that Bammer’s back on the tennis and sponsorship track again and Tina’s in school full time, Gschwendtner has returned to work — he started his own electrician’s business — and the jokes from his friends about his decision to stay home have stopped. “Now my life is more interesting. It’s like I have two lives,” he told the New York Times.

His life is more interesting? Is Gschwendtner saying that staying at home and caring for a child is uninteresting, or that the parent staying at home becomes uninteresting? Or both?

If you're a stay-at-home mom, are you bored?
Do you feel that you're boring?

Tags: boredom, boring, children, mothers, parenting, sahd, sahm, tennis

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Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Doreen Klager on September 18, 2009 at 5:04am: I am never bored, I still find there is not enough time in the day. I have been a stay at home mom for 19 years, wow its been a long time! My youngest is turning 9, do I want to go work at a 9-2 job? I don't think so, does that make me boring? NO, I have to admit I do have a great home based business! It keeps me in contact with people, I am always looking for new business partners. It is so fullfilling and rewarding when you know you helped a family enhance their lives!; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Debbie Ferm on September 18, 2009 at 6:49am: I absolutely do not get bored! I guess I did sometimes when my kids were little and were very needy. Now that they are a little older, I have time to get things done and keep the house running while still having time to talk with them and just hang out. I love to be the one to do all the little things like school day events, dropoffs and pickups, and being home when they get home from school . These things seem so simple, but I worked full time for a short while and I really noticed that something was missing.

Everyone is different though, and thank goodness for that. If people were all the same, THAT would be boring.; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Sara Broers on September 18, 2009 at 12:10pm: I have been in these shoes, and at times the time can really, really drag! Boredom can easily set in, if you allow it to. But, I tried not to let boredom get the best of me- through play groups, church events, room Mom, etc..............I found things to do. We with many things in life, a lot of it is a mental game!; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Terri O'Donnell on September 19, 2009 at 6:41am: Am I bored? I wish. There is so much to do, so many projects, so little time. With all that being said however I am an extrovert, so I realize I need my people juice. And if I spend too much time on line...then I don't get anything done. My son was home sick these past 3 days of the 1st full week of school. I basically just hung out with him. He will be going off to college in 4 years, driving and his social life will pick up greatly. So I am treasuring the time I have now with him. I realize I am where I need to be (for now).; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Dominique on September 19, 2009 at 2:09pm: Bored?? Ha! It's never a boring moment at home with my 12 month old. Granted I also work form home, but I don't think choosing to be a FULL TIME SAHM makes your boring in the least, if anything I chose to work from home as a way to contribute income and make use of my talents, certainly not cure my "boredom".; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by The Triumphant Child on September 19, 2009 at 3:17pm: I could be boring if you choose it to be - I think it can be harder for people that are isolated, but I loved staying home and I was very social and involved in the school etc; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Greenstew on September 19, 2009 at 7:03pm: My husband was a SAHD for 6 years, the SAHM did not know what to make of him. He did get board, because he did not have the social outlet the SAHM had. Now he is back to work, and I am lucky enough to work from home. Even though I work from home I can see how boring it could be.; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Karmen Kiler on September 19, 2009 at 9:10pm: My boyfriend is a SAHD and says the day flies by (at least that is his excuse for not keeping up with the dishes). Taking care of a 6 month old baby is a constant job!; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Laura Rucker on September 19, 2009 at 10:09pm: Uhhh, yes, staying home for 5 years with my daughter got old after about the 4 years into it.

I was a RARE stay-at-home mom in that I was LITERALLY a stay at home mom. In order for me to stay home my husband and I made a lot of sacrifices. One of them was only owning ONE vehicle. Since he worked about 25 miles from our home, he had the car all week.

Hence, I was a REAL STAY-AT-HOME mom! My car was the stroller I pushed my daughter in.

Like I said, after 4 years of this, it got old.

My husband lost his job during around the time our daughter turned 5. While it was a VERY stressful time in our lives, I was MORE than ready to go back to work. Mostly to socialize of course.

I am VERY grateful I was able to stay home with my daughter during her first years of life. I got to see all her "firsts" and this meant more to me than money in the bank.

Just my two cents.; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Andrea Castro on September 19, 2009 at 10:29pm: Not boring at all, it's all a matter of perspective and priorities. I really love being with my 2 year old daughter, BUT I have to make sure to schedule some sort of activity or outing every day. We both get restless if we just stay at home. She will grow up so fast, and I want to be here for her little milestones now. I also do things for myself like working on projects I want to pursue and looking into going to grad school. No 9-5 job could ever come close to watching her boogie on down during storytime!!; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by doni brune on September 20, 2009 at 12:19am: I love this topic. I was a SAHM when SAHM's were not cool. In the 80s it was all about super moms and self fulfilment which supposedly could only be had with a career. My husband and I had different ideas and figured why bother having kids if you are going to pay someone else to raise them? We did make a lot of financial sacrifices but didn't think much about that at the time, it was just what we chose.

I admit that I suffered from low self esteem during those times because of all the pressure on women to drop your kids in daycare and go find yourself in the real world. I remember feeling jealous of my husband because he was out there doing things, earning money and talking to real people while I was under the table picking chicken and noodles out of the carpet.

Bored? no I was never bored. It was challenging, but totally worth it. I love it that parenting is making a comeback and people are recognizing that raising children has value. Most interesting thing I learned was that the older they get the more they need you. All you SAHM's are doing the best job in the world!; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Justine Freeman on September 20, 2009 at 9:14am: I'm not a stay-at-home mom, but if we could afford it, I would be one in a heartbeat. I had a taste of it over the summer and LOVE it! I'm sure I could find things to keep my mind busy. Hopefully, my blog and my husband's new business will take off so this can be a reality for me :).; ▶ Reply to This