I started out in marriage as a “career wife." The first three years of our marriage were happily hec tic as my husband and I shared earning responsibilities and house hold chores. We taught school to gether, went to university together, washed floors and did dishes to gether. It was great fun! But from the first I knew that this would be only an interim arrangement. To gether, we looked forward to the time when we would become a family. Then came my first pregnancy and the great shift in roles. From career wife to housewife was quite a change, and that first year at home brought me moments of deep depression. There was a sud den closing in of my horizons, a growing realization that while Cam would go out each morning to pur sue his career, I would stay in day after day — for the next twenty years or so! And as my husband shouldered the full earning re sponsibility, I found myself not only washing, but also wiping the dishes. A fair enough role delinea tion, I realized . . . but not entirely fun. Of course, I was not the only young wife to find coping with my new role somewhat difficult. I have found that most young career women have experienced some degree of depression or disorien tation in the adjustment process. One young mother told me, "The week I quit work, it suddenly hit me. I was utterly dependent!" The problem of taking on a role of "utter dependence" is probably the really big jolt that comes to the career girl when she leaves be hind her job to become a full time housewife. And this depen- Page 7
From Career W ife to Housewife
by Maxine Hancock
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