Occasionally, women who have stayed at home for a number of years to be a homemaker and mother ask me how to handle the “gap” in their resume. I tell them that there is no gap. They have served as the:
Chief Operations Officer (COO) of the home, responsible for:
- operations and maintenance of the home,
- capital improvements (remodeling),
- purchasing, budgeting, financial management, and marketing (representing the family’s interests and reputation inside and outside the home),
- managing subcontractors (plumbers, electricians, appliance repairs, yard workers, etc.),
- field operations (activities related to hobbies, sports, and places of worship),
- human resource management (inspiring and motivating family members to be productive and actively responsible),
- personnel training (raising the children with a strong sense of values), and
- environmental management (greening the home & family worldview).
Building a safe, stress free family organizational culture. Making the home the most desirable place in the universe for the family and raising offspring to become adults of strong character is a boundaryless (24/7) full time responsibility. Serving as a homemaker is much like running a small business. The multidisciplinary wisdom and management experience acquired is applicable to virtually any workplace.
If you agree with the above characterization of a homemaker, you may feel free to use it without attribution. What do you think?
Dr. Lloyd Stebbins 
BRILLIANT. LONG OVERDUE CREDIT TO HOMEMAKERS!!
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Thanks, Marlyn. I’ve distributed that piece on homemakers to many of my classes. It invariably attracts rave reviews.
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This is a chief concern of Dr. Stebbins. He emphasized and popularized this understanding to me and the class of chemistry students in order to explain how complex and dutiful the woman is during the young years of our future generation. This made me understand how important it was for a woman to be a homemaker and take care of children. Women who uphold this are truly a blessing to their children. I was fortunate enough to have a mother that raised me full-time instead of working so that we would get the best care and I truly believe there is no gap in employment for woman with regard to raising a child.
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Great thoughts, Phillip. Being a homemaker not only is a career, it is the most important and influential career in the universe. There’s an old maxim that says, “The hand that rocks the cradle rules the world.” It’s not just a cute thought; it is literal truth.
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