So, stay at home moms. Sounds easy right? Anyone can do it right? All you have to do is take care of the kids, clean the house, make the food, do the little odd jobs to maintain your living space, and be appealing to your hard working bread-winning man. Easy as pie, that's what I thought. To stay at home meant that you gave up too easily on a career or didn't want to work very hard in life. Honestly, I have made those mental associations.
The last 4 months have been an eye-opener for me. I'm only the mother of one, a son who has JUMPED into the "terrible twos". And wow, I made a terrible misconception! The first two weeks of being a stay-at-home mom or formal "homemaker" kicked my tukhus. My world was foreign and I couldn't make heads or tails of it. And the worst part, was that I constantly get told how amazing of a kid William is. So my dilemma, if I am pulling my hair out with him, how could I handle a child less manageable? Silly, but that was my mentality back in January.
The reality is stay-at-home moms have THE HARDEST job there is. It's a 24/7 job with no guarantee of a return on investment. It is a marvel that the women I know who stay home even get out of bed in the morning or can possibly look as great as they do! I find it funny that men say how easy it is for the wife to stay home, yet they don't know what to do for an hour alone with the kids so their wives can go visiting teaching or go to a relief society activity. And the house usually looks like a natural disaster or two swept through. (brings back memories right?)
Every job is hard, no matter who you are. But being a stay-at-home mom is one that is hardly ever recognized for the amount of effort that goes into it. No world renowned award for catching the bowl of dropped spaghetti right before it hits the white carpet. There are immeasurable joys that come with motherhood, but it's a tough road to walk. Kudos to all the mothers who stay home and find solace in blogging a bit or doing whatever they can to stay above water. And to the rest of us who work, I hope you all get to experience what a stay-at-home mom does. One, you'll run back to the sanity of "work insanity", and two, you'll smile every time you see a mother who dares step anywhere public with her kids alone. MOMS ROCK!
So there's a tip of the iceburg on my soapbox about moms who stay home. I could write a book, maybe I will (but probably won't). :o)
Well said. How did your talk go? How are you doing? My e-mail address is snowboardpixi@hotmail, please e-mail me and let me know what's going on with you!
ReplyDeleteJamie
You are very right. Every mother wether at home or at work have thier trials and to the heart realizations. You make me feel so much better about my struggles at home sometimes, because you have experienced both. :)
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