It IS a JOB. It's NOT a CAREER.

I think the author does a decent job of making that clear, though she doesn't sum it up in as pithy a statement as you just did.

As for your task list: Folks on this sub also do laundry, cook, clean, do yard work, seek out bargains, and go to school and work. Some of them also take care of family members and/or pets, and participate in various activities.

Does their doing their domestic responsibilities mean that they have jobs, too? After all, the only differences between your grandma and people on this sub is (a) that we're not parents, and (b) we regard doing these tasks as "the responsibilities that come with being an adult and with the adult lifestyle we've chosen", not "jobs".

Fuck this bitch and this article. Being a GOOD stay-at-home parent IS MORE THAN A FULL TIME JOB.

I disagree. Being a SAH parent is very hard work, to be sure. It's exhausting, with 24/7 demands. It's labor-intensive. It requires skills. It eats up time and money and other resources. It's expensive. Many times it's frustrating and feels very unrewarding. It is just plain TOUGH. It is also VALUABLE.

But just because it's tough and it's valuable does not make it a job.

A job is about producing for an outside consumer. If you're an auto repair mechanic, your client is the consumer of your services. If you run an etsy shop, your customers are your consumers. When you're a SAH parent, then for at least eighteen years you're creating and maintaining a product that you're also consuming entirely. It's analogous to growing your own vegetable garden and then eating the veggies yourself, vs. a farmer who takes his produce to market.

(Yes, you can argue that SAHMs are creating and caring for a future economically productive human labor unit (child), but you can also argue that it's schools or higher education that ultimately make the product economically productive).

And consider this: If staying at home with the kids is a job, are employed moms not doing their "job" of raising their kids? Or are they just part-time moms? What if they have the resources to outsource some of the work via daycare/nannies/babysitters? Does that mean a mom who works outside the home isn't raising her own child? Before you answer, keep in mind that no one seems to expect a man who works full time to raise his child. "Lives there" = child rearing when you're a dude.