1. You Might Go Crazy. Child care is expensive and can eat up almost every dollar of your paycheck. Add up your paycheck and start taking out child care, gas, and your work wardrobe and you may be left with pennies or even be in the red. As a working mom, I always had home projects half complete. This suggests that a woman’s decision to leave her career for stay-at-home motherhood is actually multifaceted and quite complex. How many times have you heard someone say, "I never should've been a stay-at-home parent"? American Psychological Association. Sometimes, the housework would get done. Choosing to stay at home is a very personal decision for me and my husband. 6. Host play-dates. Go OUT, even for a short walk. There's no getting that time back. Powerful reasons to be a stay at home mom 1 – As a stay at home mom, you’re able to be apart of SO MANY of BABY’S MILESTONES. So, if you may ask me why I chose to be a stay-at-home mom, here are my top reasons why. One of the kids is sick? Being a stay at home mom ensures your child is getting a loving touch in a variety of situations which helps them cope and deal with real life more efficiently. Brief but very precise information… Thanks for sharing this one. Before, I worked 8-5, hurried to fix supper, do household stuff and collapse to rest for the next day. Reasons You Might Choose to Be a Stay-at-Home Parent, Ⓒ 2020 About, Inc. (Dotdash) — All rights reserved, Verywell Family uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. April 2017. #mc_embed_signup{background:#fff; clear:left; font:14px Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif; } As a working mom, my house and my mind were never ready for company. National Institutes of Health. Now I can study, volunteer, and get more meaning out of my church life. You’ll never have to worry about missing your baby’s first word when they start walking, or as they get older when they lose their first tooth or start school! That's just fuel for the ridiculous mommy wars, which no one needs to engage in. Working parents just have work commitments that stay-at-home parents don't. I appreciate having time to pursue some of my favorite things to do. Start with these 10 reasons why you should stay home with the kids. Host things at your house. Many people become stay-at-home parents for many reasons like not wanting to leave their child with someone else or to try to save money overall. You can ​be a happy stay-at-home parent whose main source of stress is your kids, which isn't that bad of a problem to have. I was stressed, short-tempered, and tired. I’m experiencing it all. new to the blogosphere. Rushing C, Powell L. Family Dynamics of the Stay-at-Home Father and Working Mother Relationship. I spent a considerable amount of time and money earning an advanced degree and working and have now decided to stay home with 3 teenagers. It’s remarkable to pay a visit this website and reading the views Exactly. 10 Ways to be a Calm Mom; 10 Ways to Be a Happy Stay-at-Home Mom; Celebrate Your Child's Holiday Adjacent Birthday; Top 10 Travel Tips for Moms; Health and Fitness. I’m still in my pajamas. 10) Medical/Health Purposes Think of this as a chance to become your child’s health aid, or just to nurse longer. If you’re experiencing feelings of depression that are ongoing, whether you are a stay-at-home mom or not, please ask for help. The “what-ifs” of being a stay at home mom are hard to face and equally as hard to talk about. More meals at home, time to plan and make good food choices. Have you been thinking about it but it didn’t seem possible? Neither choice is wrong. Add in your work responsibilities, trying to find time with your spouse, and raising your kids and it might just be enough to make you want to trade your paycheck for some time away from the office. Your little one, in return, also really gets to know their mama – a bond every parent wants their little one to have with them. So, make sure you have plans to break things up! Sometimes I yelled at everyone all night after work. This is especially true if you have more than one child, need after-school care, or night care. You learn more about their likes and dislikes; fears and passions. This is a great tip particularly to those I exercise at home (for free) because my schedule is less full. There is considerable negativity surrounding the subject of stay-at-home moms, and in fact, there are many reasons that mothers themselves find NOT to stay home- that they can’t afford it, that their kids would drive them crazy, that they spent the money to earn a degree so they have to use it, that they are too integral to the job they have that they can’t leave, etc. 10 Healthier Holiday Food Swaps ; 10 Healthy Breakfasts for Kids and Grown Ups; 10 Ways to Stick to Your Goals (Even … You're there, literally, every step of the way. Child Development Basics. Many moms are choosing to be a stay at home mom, so they can be home with their children, for a number of good reasons: 10 Good Reasons to be a Stay at Home Mom. One of the last reasons to be a stay at home mom is bonding and discipline. I was also known to annoy the bazinga out of my husband when he would walk in the door. All day if you want. We recommend moving this block and the preceding CSS link to the HEAD of your HTML file. Clark D. How Stay-at-Home Parents Can Transition Back to Work. I don’t know about you, but as a working mom I only had time for Sunday worship. Read this list again and again if you need to. Reasons Stay-at-Home Mom Depression Happens. Life is hard and unexpected, but it can also be great, as long as you take the time to consider your options and protect yourself and those you love. Talk to other moms about mom things. The President of the United States of America only earns $400,000 . /* Add your own MailChimp form style overrides in your site stylesheet or in this style block. Before I got married, my life revolved around my corporate job. Who may think we are wasting our time and talents not being in the workforce, who question our productivity and usefulness, who believe that our identity comes from our profession alone. Are you a busy mom that would rather spend more because you don’t have the time or energy to shop around. Share it with your husband. I am my own BOSS. 1. Many activities simply disappear once you aren’t working. Whether you are already staying home with your kids or are thinking about making the transition from work to home, we want to assure you that you are doing the right thing for yourself and your family. You can sit down and play a game when your little ones ask. 10 Reasons Dads Are AWESOME; 10 Ways to Stay Sane When Your Partner's Away; Is It Time To Have Another Baby? Sometimes finances play a big part in your decision to be a stay-at-home parent. Make your husband lunch. They don't have to worry about daycare being closed, that big deadline for work, who's going to take care of the kids when you're on that business trip next week, or how you're going to tell your boss you have to leave to go pick up your sick child from school. Pros and Cons of Being a Stay at Home Mom Cons of Being a Stay at Home Mom: Feeling Lost: This feeling was definitely the strongest when my son was a newborn and I had just made the decision to be a stay at home mom. The Cost of Childcare in Ohio. Be involved in your church. Talk about which of these reasons really connect with you. Focusing 100% of your family doesn't mean working parents aren't dedicated to their families or aren't thinking of their kids throughout the day. When I was a stay-at-home mom, I’d end up spending hours online or on my phone for no other reason than looking for adult conversation. Have fewer commitments and more free time. You can take a spontaneous trip to the park/pool/store/library. Sometimes I broke down, overwhelmed by it all. 2019. Sometimes it is just easier to throw that toy in the cart than to hear you kid throw one more tantrum. In order to discipline effectively, there needs to be a strong bond first. Am J Mens Health. That makes it much easier to be a working mom, if that is what's best for your family. Here are my Top 10 Reasons for being a Stay-at-Home Mom! Being a stay-at-home mom means getting more bonding time with your baby. The fact that being a stay at home mom does not pay does not make it less important. Apryl Duncan is a stay-at-home mom and internationally-published writer with years of experience providing advice to others like her. of all colleagues concerning this paragraph, while I am also eager of getting knowledge. Harvard Business Review. Plus, this edge persists at least until 1st grade.__ As much as we don't want to think about it, our kids are growing up every single second of the day. When they're all grown up, that's it. Staying home all day with small kids is exhausting, repetitive, boring and sometimes frustrating. Read our, Reviewed by Ann-Louise T. Lockhart, PsyD, ABPP, Verywell Family uses cookies to provide you with a great user experience and for our, Staying Home Could Be Less Stress for You, You Being at Home Might Be Easier on the Whole Family, How You Can Relieve Stress When You're a Stay-at-Home Mom, How to Pay for Child Care When You're on a Tight Budget, 4 Tips for When Your Daycare Raises Their Prices, The Balancing Act: Working at Home With Kids, How Parents Can Save Money When Raising Children, How Working Parents Can Cope With New Realities and Pandemic Uncertainty, 10 Considerations When Choosing to Be a Stay-at-Home Mom, Ditching the Super Mom Cape and Be True to Who You Are, How to Go From Working Mom to Stay-At-Home Mom, 10 Questions to Ask Before Working Again When Your Kids Start School. Below are just 27 of the many reasons I love being a stay-at-home mom. When you're a stay-at-home parent, you're pretty much guaranteed you'll be there for all of your children's major milestones. Another great reason to become a stay-at-home mom is to leave behind the work drama. Have time for working out. It’s always useful to read through content from other writers and practice something from other websites. Financial reasons and raising kids are two very common reasons to be a stay at home mom. Most of the time I felt inadequate both at work and home. James E. Faust said, “The influence of a mother in the lives of her children is beyond calculation.” I hoped for her, dreamed of her and prayed for her before she was born. What Exactly Does a Stay-at-Home Mom Do All Day? While you can always make time for your children whether you work or stay home, being a stay-at-home mom gives you more learning opportunities to discover throughout your day together. Because-. Working moms and stay at home moms all have this in common: We are ALL awesome mothers, regardless of whether we grind the 9-5 or stay at home. In my experience though, many things suffered because of my absence from my home. (function($) {window.fnames = new Array(); window.ftypes = new Array();fnames[0]='EMAIL';ftypes[0]='email';fnames[1]='FNAME';ftypes[1]='text';fnames[2]='LNAME';ftypes[2]='text';}(jQuery));var $mcj = jQuery.noConflict(true); Emily and Allison, founders of Radical Motherhood, @2017 | Radical Motherhood | All rights reserved. In other words, sometimes it's just plain cheaper for you to stay home with the kids rather than to work outside of the home. Less worry. Your kids are smarter. Nice post. Being a stay-at-home parent can be much easier on the whole family. You and your spouse aren't juggling schedules all the time to decide who's going to pick up which child, from where and at what time. Homeschool. Use the food you have instead of buying more and throwing food away. Weigh the pros and cons to decide which role is right for your family. I learn something new and challenging on blogs I stumbleupon everyday. 1 A stay at home mom may be able to give her child a better pre-school education than if her child was in a class of other pre-school children. This goes for when a child is young as well as old. With a few extra steps, you can go back to work when you're ready with a resume that doesn't have glaring holes in it while you stayed home to raise your children. In fact, many important jobs pay very little comparatively. When it comes down to it, whether you want to be a stay at home mom is your choice. It is a decision that we think is best for our family. Have day-dates. Finally, another stay-at-home mom wrote: " To me the best part of staying home is that I've blossomed as a person. Learn how your comment data is processed. Start working on your plan to transition from work to home. But you're on the fence about making the transition from working parent to stay-at-home parent. 13 reasons why I love being a Stay-at-home-mom. Less hurrying and rushing- calmer mornings and evenings. You won't miss the first time baby sits up, takes those first steps, or says her first words. Leaving your job to stay at home is a big decision that you shouldn’t make lightly. BECAUSE YOU ARE A MOM: Last but certainly not least, I chose to stay home – simply because I am a mom. 2. Interview with the Husband of a Stay-At-Home... Natural Family Planning (NFP): The Birth Control... Homeschool Mistakes: What Not to Do When... Homeschool Mistakes: What Not to Do When You Start Homeschooling, Homeschooling during the Covid-19 pandemic, Vocations and the Number One Reason Staying Home is Good for Moms. (In fact, it was one of the reasons I never went to college or university – I “planned” for this future… but I didn’t really understand at 18 what being home all day with kids would entail.) A 2012 Gallup poll surveyed 60,000 women including women with no children, working moms, and stay-at-home moms who were or were not looking for work. If you are considering staying home, here are 7 reasons why you SHOULDN'T become a stay at home mom or wife and homemaker. The 1 Reason You Should Be a Stay-at-Home Mom (It's Also Why You Shouldn't Be One) April 22, 2017 by Katharine Stahl. I’m catching every moment! I have never really had a good option for childcare. Its all up to you. Thank you, {{form.email}}, for signing up. Life is full of stress and work is just another factor in that stress level, regardless of what you do for a living.. Follow my blog with Bloglovin Why? SAHMs, have it hard: There is no clock to punch to say "day is done!" I’ve been there. Get expert tips to help your kids stay healthy and happy. When you stay home with the kids, you are their teacher. You're their first influence before they head off to school and you're continually teaching them something new. Do something you always wanted to but didn’t have time for. Less anxiety for you and your kids. Being a stay-at-home mom (or homeschooler) is just that. There's a reason people quit their jobs, never to return to the workforce, and it's not because they're lazy. Eat together. You'll always be able to say you were there for baby's firsts. You're wondering if you should become a stay-at-home parent. No matter what your reason you need to talk to your partner before you make your final decision if you are going to be a stay-at-home parent. Economic Policy Institute. Studies suggest that stay-at-home moms report more depression, sadness, and anger. This is another reason that I have mostly been a stay at home mom. This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. No one's saying being a stay-at-home parent is going to be easy. You'll have days you wish you get dressed and dash out the door for an 8-hour workday. Every first word, first steps, and first moment of joy. 1- I get to chill with the most important people in my life all day long. We know that this is what being a SAHM can do for you. Stay-at-home moms should be bursting with pride on this one: Research by Columbia university tracking 1,000 children across the U.S. found that kids with stay-at-home moms score slightly higher on intelligence teststhan those whose moms work. I don’t hide the fact that it was basically my life’s dream to be a stay at home mom. There is considerable negativity surrounding the subject of stay-at-home moms, and in fact, there are many reasons that mothers themselves find NOT to stay home- that they can’t afford it, that their kids would drive them crazy, that they spent the money to earn a degree so they have to use it, that they are too integral to the job they have that they can’t leave, etc. Because when I’m a stay-at-home mom, I don’t have to … As you adjust to your life as a stay-at-home parent, though, you'll find the rewards come to you on a daily basis. Still, life at home with the kids all the time can be frustrating. When I left my job, I no longer had to deal with the politics of a massive school system (my school system had over 100 elementary schools, nevermind middle schools, high schools, and charters) and the bureaucracy that it came with. We were always looking for a lost item or wishing we had done a load of laundry because today there are no clean socks. 8 Reasons Why Mothers Left Their Careers for Stay-At-Home Motherhood: 1) The stress of managing work and family demands. Stay-at-home moms, a.k.a. Kids give us plenty of stress on their own. Have you ever wondered if you could be a stay at home mom or wife? No need for Skype or ​daycare cams to see what your child is doing. 25 Tips to Save money as a Stay-At-Home Mom Easy Money-Saving Tips for Moms. Obedience is easier if the child feels a connection of love first and then the “no.”. Be healthier. Quick note- By writing this blog post I’m not trying to personally demean anyone who is not a SAHM. So I am sharing my Top 5 Reasons I Love Being A Stay At Home Mom, and sharing some words of encouragement for those who have chose not to return to the workforce. Now life is busy, but I get to do things I want to do, be with my kids, and participate more actively in my community. Being a homemaker is such a rewarding job, but it is not the job for everybody. Adventures in Parenting. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Your home can be organized, clean, and peaceful. Let's face it. How Having a Baby Affects Your Relationship With Your Partner, Back to School in a Pandemic: What Families Can Expect This Fall, 10 Things to Do for Slowing Down and Savor Time With Your Family, How to Face the Uncertainty of the 2020–2021 School Year With Confidence, How Stay-at-Home Parents Can Transition Back to Work, Family Dynamics of the Stay-at-Home Father and Working Mother Relationship. For me this was writing this blog with my sister. We love pajamas. Of course, some of these things can be achieved if you are a working mom. Many of you have family members willing to help you out or childcare you feel confident about and that is great. You'll quickly resume your position on the career ladder and even climb more steps up that ladder. Compassionate Eye Foundation / David Oxberry/OJO Images Ltd/Digital Vision/Getty Images. Is maternity leave really even long enough? A stay-at-home mom wears many hats over the course of a day, and sometimes that hat looks more like a horse saddle. From a 9 – 5 banking job to having a flexible time as a sales agent, one thing was certain- there were things I wasn’t able to do due to time constraints. But you'll never regret being with them just about 24/7. The focus is on the family without work distractions and other complications the working parent has to deal with on a daily basis. I’m just simply sharing what I love about the profession I’ve chosen. Yes, being a stay-at-home with your kids full-time is a challenge some days but you'll never be able to put them in a time machine and make them little again. 8 You Get to Focus 100% on Your Family To be more available to relatives and friends. For me that was committee work, grading papers, and scheduling appointments after work. Both kids are bathed, hair combed, teeth brushed, dressed and fed breakfast. First, please understand that clinical depression is a very real, truly terrible, painful thing. I’d ask a million and one questions, when all he wanted was five minutes of piece to wind down from a frustrating day of work. While you can always make time for your children whether you work or stay home, being a stay-at-home mom gives you more learning opportunities to discover throughout your day together. Sometimes I ate right and fed my family a balanced meal. Stress in America 2019. Lots of working moms I know complain about not being able to find time to exercise or go to the gym. It's easy to think you'll never get back to where you were in your career if you quit your job to stay home with the kids. But if you want to stay home, there's plenty you can do to cover your employment gap, from taking classes for women that can enhance your career to volunteering your time in a related field. Now they are. Every first fear, scare, and tantrum. Reasons NOT To Be A Stay At Home Mom. You're the master of the family schedule and being there all the time can be much easier for the entire family. You might end up going a bit nuts. A must read article! Stay at home moms range from mothers who left 6-figure jobs to stay home and raise their babies to women who already stayed home before having kids and … Have another mom friend where you can go to each other’s houses to let your kids run around while you talk. Stay-at-home parents have it easy in this area. When I was a working mom, I always felt torn between two worlds, and not truly engaged in either. 2019. In a nursery, children will usually be faced with a chain of different educators. You may even feel this way about yourself. You can wear pajamas. To add to our own doubts, there are those around us who don’t support SAHMs. I’m just a stay-at-home mom.. Get fit! Your kids can wear pajamas all day. Staying home with your kids is truly rewarding. As a mother, on the contrary, you know your children best and are able to offer a truly individualized approach, tailored down to each unique child. 2015;9(5):410-20.  doi: 10.1177/1557988314549414. */. I always knew it’s what I wanted to do but I never realized how lost I would feel. Here are our top 22 reasons to be a SAHM. Don’t fret about the babysitter, sick time, and being able to leave work.