Two women are talking about their careers and how busy they are when I happened to come on the scene. I eventually join in on the conversation saying "Wow, you girls are so busy, I don't know how you do it!" To which they replied, "Oh, I know and you're a stay-home Mom, don't you just get bored to death?" I had to chuckle to myself. I'll admit my "non-career" life has been lonely at times, but NOT boring with 4 kids!! Once again, I'd like to clarify that we stay-home moms do not sit on our laurels in front of a television all day long eating Bon-bons and dressing in choice lingerie. The majority of stay-home Moms I've met are sharp & well-educated- not the frumpy hair/flannel bathrobe types. An outline of my "oh-so-boring" life: Get up at 7:30, get dressed in workout clothes, say goodbye to my 2 older children as they get off to school. Do my prayer/study time and wake up my 2 youngest girls, get them dressed & fed. Head out the door & drive to the gym. Pick up my little "neice" Emma, drop the 3 girls off at the YMCA nursery and proceed to my 2 hrs of teaching fitness classes. Afterward, gather up the girls and go home. Feed them lunch, put Emma down for her nap, go do my barn chores. Take a shower. Do homeschool with my girls a couple of hours. Practice the piano & work on my music about 1 hour a day. Tidy my house, do laundry, laundry & more laundry, work on 'Message of Mercy' stuff. Greet my 2 kids & the little boy I babysit after school. Prepare supper while making some calls. Clean up the kitchen, observe the children doing their chores & homework, answer e-mails, etc. Before bed, mill flour & make bread for breakfast and the children's lunches. I maintain an active Blog- usually writing in the am with my devotion or evening after we put the kids to bed. Finally, I fall into bed ready for some good converstaion, etc. with my man and we are asleep by 10:30-11pm. So it's a very busy life!!
The fact that many people think I do nothing but sit around is evident by the vast amount of proposals I get from friends and family members to do home businesses. Sorry, but I don't have that kind of time- I'm a busy lady! I love my life!! I like managing my household and being here when my husband or children need me. I'm not addicted to shopping, I'm content to drive a mini-van instead of a more sporty model, so I don't need much money to be happy. What makes me happiest is being connected with the ones I love. I think perhaps the stay-home Mom is an endangered species that may soon die out. As inflation & materialism continue to rise there is more pressure for women to work outside the home. Not every woman is able to stay home, but sometimes, with a few lifestyle changes it's possible. Next time you meet up with a stay-home Mom, notice her- give her a word of encouragement. Our line of work is not highly esteemed and sometimes it can truly be a thankless job...
15 comments:
First time I saw such words about stay-at-home moms! well, you're kind of a wonderful (but rare) woman.
are you sure you're not a poor oppressed woman? (as would say the feminists).
is it a song by lorenna mckennitt I heard on your blog (or by enya, I'm not sure)?
enjoy your life!
snowy kisses from france (i may try to send you a poeme on another time but i'm not sure my english will be fluent enough
I am a stay at home dad, and you are right it is a thankless job.
However being a stay at home father of 5 kids, two in diapers, and one that just hit the terrible twos in glorious fashion, I am going to say being a stay at home parent is WAY easier than working a secular job.
There is a certain schedule you have to adhere to, like get the kids to school on time, but everything is pretty much up to me, no boss breathing down your neck, no production quotas, no cowtowing to an idiot boss because you have to. No compremising my values to make a buck.No punching a clock with the thought in your head "OH, I will get fired if I am late one more time this month." And what reward do you have at the end of the day at the indentured servitude most people call JOBs or, Just Over Broke s,.
The ONLY thing i miss about the job is MY money, and getting out of the house once in a while. Dasit.
And that is even mitigated by the fact that there is no other feeling in the world akin to Cheyenne or Ryan waking up and running to me to sit on my lap and give me a hug.
Radical Feminists are in the same catagory as male chauvanists, they don't want equallity they want power.
And women who want careers over staying at home with the kids, although it is their right, are definately making the harder choice.
great... u are there whenever ur family members needs u, this is priceless...
majority of the population runs behind making money by sacrificing the best time they can spend and earn wonderful memories by spending time with their loved ones... they forget about the THE PRESENT while trying to make thier future good...
A great post, you've got a wonderful style. And...love your music too!
I can relate to your staying home, there were choices of what we wanted most and what we were willing to go without. I've never regretted it.
those two ladies probably don't know what it's like to be a proper mom .. atleast you don't tell your kids, "Mommy be back" .. you're always there for them and that's good parenting ...
and being a mom is a fulltime job I think .. and exactly mom's don't sit all day on their laurels..
your husband probably makes good money and hence you don't have to work .. that's one of the main reasons many mom's ignore kids .. call baby sitters and such because both couples need to work ..
... just want to clarify to my readers that I in no way condemn women for working outside the home. I'm trying to help people understand what we stay-home moms do all day. I think it's highly beneficial for the parent-child bond when small children are able to be with a parent during the day.
Also, I think stay-home Dads are pretty special, Royce! I completely agree with your statement about male chauvanists and militant feminism.
Good comments! :o)
one thing has to be said: it is not possible for a woman to have a career and a family; when the case is happening, one thing has to be sacrified: and most of the times it is the children education which is sacrified.
a female doesn't become a mother by only giving life to a child. the human job is to make him grow to become an adult: that is the mission.
in urban areas (in france 70% of the whole population is living there), a working girl is spending 12 hours a day outside of her home (for the pleasure of the job - feminist vocabulary), she still needs 8 hours of sleeping: she just have four hours a day for doing all the activities a "modern" woman is supposed to have; question: who educates the children now?
television, playsation, in fact nobody and for the luckyest of them, people from out the family.
you can consider than family is a dead project here due to these 30 years of this fascist ideology called feminism.(when a man is not agree with this ideology, he is called psychopathic, nevropathic or all that kind of words; that is what feminists called "dialogue").
one last thing: man and woman are different and each cannot bring to the children what the other is transmitting:
by the way, BEING is giving by woman (if she's present in her child's life)not by man.
we just enter the times of golems fabrication....
by chance, these events are just concerning the phenomenal world where people spent their life in wars and other conflicts.
under this is another world of harmony which is not depending of what happen or not in the phenomenal area
Some good thoughts, GMC. I think you have a pretty good grasp on the English language! :o)
didn't practice for a long time but have some remains.
have a nice day!
Preach it! I am SO tired of hearing people tell me how "spoiled" I am for staying at home with my kids. Spoiled enough to live in a condo with 3 kids instead of a house, spoiled enough to drive a minivan instead of sexy SUVs, spoiled enough to wear the same maternity clothes for the 3rd time around. My kids are worth every single sacrifice - they are the very best investment we could possibly make in this life and we are doing it - FOR THEM. PEople are ignorant. It is easy to get frumpy as a stay at home mom, and we do have to work at being productive sometimes but in the long run our kids will benefit tenfold for having us at home. I'll step off my soapbox now...
Oh, and royce I have to say I totally disagree with you! I'm glad you are embracing your life as a stay and home dad and kudos to you!! But I worked in the secular world for a long while too and being a mom is the hardest job I have EVER had. When you mess up, it means so much more. Everything you do goes into molding a LIFE. It is stressful and taxing more than anything I can think of, although the most rewarding job anyone could have. Blessings to you!
Being full-time Mom is a great thing. I always respect and love my mom for everything she has done. But I think everyone should take time for themselves. Everyone should have a hobby.
My Mom's a housewife too, and she's never free to take out time for herself.
Working women seriously miss some parts of their family life that's affected for worse before they realize it.
My mom is a homemaker and i know for sure its not easy. I appreciate your sentiments in this post.
I AGREE whole-heartedly with our "Anonymous" contributer. I'm a fun-loving person, if I didn't have my hobbies, I would go crazy!! Stay-home moms still need some fun and romance in their lives.
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