Sunday, March 8, 2009

How much impact does a Stay-at-Home Mom have on the economy?

My husband is a small business owner. My parents own a small business. My grandparents both run small businesses. My good friends' husbands own small businesses. Do you see a theme? They are all very apprehensive of what is coming. How many small businesses do you know of that are going out of business or letting people go?

I can stimulate the economy if given a bit more of my husband's money! I have two daughters. They are both enrolled in a dance studio and a piano studio. Guess what? Both studios are small, local businesses owned by - GASP!- women! Hike up my taxes, keep letting gas prices creep up, let milk stay sky-high and I will not be able to support the local economy. And it is not just I alone. There are thousands of Micheles, spending their self-employed husbands' hard-earned cash to support local economies all over the country! Will we be able to continue?

I have not had my hair or the girls' hair cut in months. Guess who was cutting our hair? A mom of four operating a small business in her basement. Hmmm...

I am no longer employing a sweet lady to come and clean the bathrooms and change the sheets. Hmmm...

Will I be able to afford fresh produce at the any of the many small business fruit and vegetable stands this summer? Will they even be operating? And what about those incredible small business plant nurseries? The ones where you get plants and knowledgeable staff?

What about the local artist who supplements her art by teaching small children after school? I wanted to enroll my kids, but...too much of my husband's money is going to "swine odor studies."

I live in fear that the most wonderful cross stitch shop in the world (The Dogwood Patch) might ... I dare not even write it. I would willingly pump more of my husband's money into that woman-owned, small business, but I understand the money is needed to helped those swamp mice in California.

Before the "late unpleasantness," I stimulated the economy with great vigor and regularity! I bought my grains at a local, family-run, small business grist mill, I ate a local restaurants, I supported a local coffee house, shopped at small, local antique and junk shops, I took my girls to local theatre productions and ice cream parlors. I took my girls to museums, the zoo and the aquarium. I bought books like nobody's business. I bought homeschool supplies from small, family-owned companies. Oh, yes, I have supported homeschool companies! ;) All my appliances are the same brand; in the past 8 years, I have come to know the local (small business) repairman very well!

Take more money from small business owners, and you take more money away from their charitable contributions. More money is wasted and lost when the government gets involved and decides where the money goes. Small business owners can give the money more directly to local charities or the high school band and newspaper (thanks Mom and Dad;).

I worry about small businesses. My family is directly affected and so are the families of so many around me.

Oh, ye gods of Washington, I implore you to reconsider the crushing of America's small businesses! Give us our money, let us support other small businesses in turn!


 

4 comments:

Grenae said...

Amen! You go, girl! xoxo mom

Jennifer Ann Fox said...

hey, I like to go to the Dogwood Patch too and wonder how long it will be able to sustain because of the economy.
I work in the medical field and most folks think that is job security but no, I work in a big for profit business and we are already furloughing,,,, nurses. So, not only is small businesses going to fold but large businesses including health care institutions are fixing to change. It's really depressing if you think about it. Problem is the more stressed I am, the more I want to cross stitch, which in turn means stash building and this is costly.....so, I do think that specialty shops will see a big competition with online and ebayers. Like I told my adult kids today, I'm planning for the worse and hoping for the best.
Jennifer D

http://www.feathersinthenest.blogspot.com

Anonymous said...

Great post Michele! I have been looking for a job for a month. And I am a nurse so you can imagine how other unemployed people are faring. We are worried about Darrell's job (local car dealership) and my Mom's (architecture firm). My brother's restaurant is doing half the business they did this time last year. Zim's Bagel Bakery closed, Mean Bean closed.

Jennifer Ann Fox said...

hey, whoever the anonymous blogger here is, Hope you have all the luck in the world. I am a nurse practitioner and heard of public health laying off several nurses and furloughing the others. I can't believe public health......well, maybe I can, I worked in it for 10 years prior to moving up to North Ga.

Jennifer D