Stay at home?
ORGo back to work?
Some mothers will weigh out the pros and cons. Some mothers flat out don’t want to leave their baby. Some mothers can’t afford childcare. While some mothers have no choice. Whatever your choice is, you based it on your life style and family needs. No matter what, we are all mothers and we do what we think is best for our family.
My choice. Stay at home. Why? Well, there are a few reasons.
1. We cannot afford childcare. Even if I
had a good job, with my pay check and my husband’s pay check combined, we can’t
fork out $500+ bucks a month for EACH kid! That’s crazy!
2. Without a doubt, I know my kids are
getting what they need.
3. I can teach them things others places
can’t (and sometimes don’t teach). Like common sense, morals and values, the
love of a family, etc.
Most days…. I want to rip my hair out. With
my 4 year old chasing the dog screaming while tracking mud through the house, with
my 3 year old emptying out the fridge onto the kitchen floor or finding the art
supplies and with her artistic abilities “decorate” the living room walls and
floor, with my 1 year old on standing on the kitchen table in a pile of soggy
cereal with his cereal bowl on his head splashing the milk everywhere or goes
to drink my FULL cup of coffee and spills it all over him and the couch. And to
think, this is an average day at my house…
Not only is the above paragraph real,
but here are only a few of the many stories of what has really happened.
~ I came out of the bathroom to find
Emily with the syrup bottle open and upside down, drizzling it on the living
room rug and laughing at it getting on the dog who is licking it up.
~ To my kids, desitin is body paint and
hair gel and baby powder is snow. They have covered themselves with it and when
I find them they run and smear it everwhere they go, the couch, kitchen table
and chairs, all over beds and pillows…
~ The kids have made a concoction of ketchup and
chocolate syrup and layered the kitchen floor with it.
~ They have covered the kitchen counter
with some flour and about a pound of powder sugar and “drove” cars through it,
making my kitchen a sticky, winter wonderland.
We
(5 bodies and a dog) live in a 2 bedroom, 1 bathroom, 800 square foot house. The only time my house is half way clean is from about
9 PM to 7 AM. By 7:05AM you have to find your way through the maze of toys,
books and clothes just to get to the bathroom. My house smells like sour milk, the
floor is always sticky from juice and I cannot get the smell of pee out of my bathroom!
The kitchen counters are always cluttered, the sink is always full, the laundry
baskets are non-stop over flowing and the day I fold and put away all the hand towels
is also the day I run out of them from cleaning up messes. I deal with non-stop
very quiet whining from one kid, do my best to communicate with my “kitty cat”
that refuses to say a word other than “meow” and try to figure out the wants of
my teething 14 month old that only speaks in baby jargon.
(Some say being a stay at home mom is
just an excuse to be lazy. But, regardless of how "easy" us stay at
home mommies have it, I can guaranty that those who think this way will not
last 1 day in my house.)
You
might be wondering how or why I do it. The answer is simple............
L-O-V-E.
I love my kids more than anything. More
than warm food, more than daily showers, makeup or the latest hair style, more
than cute clothes and shoes, more than a vehicle that doesn’t have siding
doors, more than a full night’s sleep, more than a fit body, more than alcohol and parties, and more than
extra money… I sacrifice more in 6 hours than most people do in 24 hours. I
gave up working part time at minimum wage job not so I could stay home and do
nothing. I gave it up for my kids. I wanted to be there for them, period. I am
very lucky to have a husband who not only make “enough” to support a family of
5, but who also understands if I didn’t get to the dishes or haven’t started on
dinner yet. Both my husband and I are proud of our lives. To us, no amount of
money is worth leaving the kids with anyone else. I am proud of my choice. I
hope you are proud of yours too!
(This picture was taken October 2012)
No comments:
Post a Comment