Choosing to be A Stay at Home Mom

I previously wrote this as a guest post for another blog. Enjoy!

As far back as I can remember I wanted nothing more than to be a stay at home mother. I wanted to stay home and raise my children until they were in school just as my mom had done with me. Now here I am a stay at home mom with a bachelor's degree in...stay at home mothering? Wait, that can't be right. You can't have a degree in that. 

Oh that's right, I have a bachelor's degree in business administration with a concentration in marketing and a minor degree in dance. Whew. That sure took a whole lot of studying; roommates that occasionally drove me nuts; and economics classes that made me want to poke my eyes out. Four years later after receiving that degree and I'm dressed in the fanciest business suit pajamas sitting at home nursing my four month old all day. 

 Since I've graduated college I've worked in the financial industry and in advertising - both with many complaints from me. I hate financial stuff and rude people and I hate working for people who don't treat employees right (who doesn't). Some people liked to say that I wasn't ever going to be happy with any job; but here I am happier than a camel on Wednesday. I'm so incredibly blessed to be able to do what I truly wanted to do and I'm so grateful for my husband's hard work to accommodate that.

But sometimes I do feel guilty. Guilty for having worked so hard at my parent's expense with no student loans just to now be sitting at home for the next 10ish years while I hopefully pop out children left and right, stay home with them and then send them off to good ole' Kindergarten. I know one day I'll go back to work and hopefully achieve my goal of working for myself, but until then I do have the occasional guilt trip. 

Leaving an income was perhaps the hard part (well duh, we all need money); especially since my income finally matched my education. I was finally making a decent salary and had a fancy title and lots of work independence. However, staying at home was far more important to me than that paycheck that I often blew on whatever. 

Staying at home is definitely a sacrifice for any person and any family. You learn to work with what you have and to enjoy the simpler things. It's a sacrifice that means that you may not have a new outfit for every occasion or a pedicure every week; but in the end it is worth it (at least for me). 

Staying at home has been the most fulfilling job that I've ever had. It's a 24 hour job that doesn't end. I don't have a lunch break to eat in peace and I don't have a commute to jam out to the radio. Yet, I wouldn't change a thing. I absolutely love what I do and cherish every moment. However, it is a job. To all those who think that SAHMs don't do anything all day - they are so wrong. I applaud every mother who works a full time job because even I sometimes wish for more hours in the day. 

I've been told before that I'm lucky to stay at home, but I don't like using the word luck. I do think I'm blessed but it isn't just by chance. Staying at home isn't always about your income or about how much your husband makes, it's about the income your willing to live without. It's about that job title that you're willing to leave and that weekly pedicure that you may have to give up. However I've never been more proud of my job title.

Being a stay at home mom doesn't make a mother any better than the working mother; we're all just trying to navigate through this thing called motherhood. As long as you have a job you love and your kids are happy and healthy, I'd say you're doing okay. Simply put...I love my job. 

Happy Weekend!

Sasha