Well for women who choose to be housebound (and no longer have young children), hopefully they are expanding their horizons in other ways. Travel of course , isn't everything. but if the woman is well-educated, college/university in a way, she is equipped with skills/motivation to learn about the world...already her curiosity was piqued before she had children.

When other women engage in talk about their children's accomplishments, well, in all honesty I don't feel hurt not being able to join in this intimate experience.

I just tell them I'm a proud aunt of a niece who is finishing her final year of geophysical engineering and is contemplating her master's. Her brother was a competitive swimmer at reigonal level....training 40 laps in pool at 5:00 am every morning... Then there's the aggressive little niece of another family who will wrestle down hard her 2 older brothers...

I am happy to observe frome the sidelines and cheer along.