Working Mom
I’ve been thinking about this one for a long time, but there is definitely lots to say on this subject. I am a working Mom. I have to be honest and say that there was a point in my life where I felt that I didn’t have a choice of whether I would be a stay at home mom or go back to work. Financially, I just didn’t see how it could be possible for me to stay at home, so it wasn’t a hard decision when Elise’s 1st birthday began rolling around, that I started looking for a job.
After we had Georgia, we made the same decision, that I would go back to work when my Maternity leave was up, but I have to honestly say that this decision was not so much based on our finances as it was on my sanity. I say this with all seriousness…I loved being at home with my kids, HOWEVER, I went through a long period of post partum with Elise and then having both kids in the month of September meant winter coming and me being stuck inside with no car available to me or anywhere to go with 3 month old and 2 year old.
I have to admit, the days were hard and lonely. There was no one to talk to (well, no one to have an adult conversation with) and no real happiness to my day. I felt like I was just going through the motions of making meals, doing laundry, and cleaning WHILE playing with the kids and keeping them from going stir crazy in the house. It was hard and I have no qualms about saying that. By the end I was happy to be going back to work, I wanted to do something for myself and contribute to something other than my house.
I have always said that I could not be a stay at home mom. This is where I get the horrified gasps from other moms because they just cannot comprehend why I would not be ecstatic to be at home with my children. I don’t think this makes me a bad mom. In fact, it makes me a BETTER mom because I know what I can and cannot handle…I can’t handle being at home all day, so it makes me a better mom to be able to go to work and do what I enjoy and then come home in a proper state of mind to be able to care for my children.
My mom stayed at home with me and my brother, so I think she didn’t fully understand why I would go back to work and this is the response that I get from most people. But at the end of the day, each mom has to do what they feel is best for themselves and their family. No one is more right or more wrong. We are all just trying to get through the weeks and years while raising our children to the best of our ability and if that means staying at home OR going to work, then so be it.
Stay at home moms make the argument that they don’t want other people raising their kids…I have to admit, this is a damn good argument…I don’t want other people raising my kids either!!! That’s why I make the most of MY time with them and I make sure that I am setting THE BEST example of a wife, mother, and friend. I make sure that there are life lessons in EVERY activity we do and every conversation we have. I don’t think that either method of raising kids is more correct than the other, just like breast feeding or bottle feeding, but that’s a whole different argument. I think if we are loving our children to be their best and are raising them with values and integrity, then THAT is what makes all the difference in the world.
A Child's Worth 
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