Hello and welcome to my new blog! I'm creating this blog as a forum to vent my frustrations, fears, triumphs, and challenges in all things related to being a stay-at-home mom in America. Being a stay-at-home mom can be isolating and difficult at times, so it's my hope that sharing my experiences here helps other mothers feel that they aren't alone.
That being said, lets just jump right in. I've been a stay-at-home mom since my daughter was born 2 1/2 years ago. That's a long time to be out of the work/social scene! While other stay-at-home moms understand how much I do on a daily basis to manage my house and my children, people who aren't in this situation seem to look down on the choice I've made.
A great example is a post I recently saw on facebook. It was one of those cartoons that are supposed to be so brutally honest that they're funny. I can't find the cartoon image to post here, but it basically said something along the lines of, "I'm working hard to get my Master's Degree, but if the opportunity arises to be a stay-at-home mom, I'm taking it!". My own friends and mother have joked saying that I went to college for an MRS degree and that I wasted a lot of money on my education when I'm just going to stay home and pop out babies.
Attitudes like this never fail to piss me off. Yes, I went to college. Yes, I graduated with a degree in Biology and Chemistry. Yes, I had a low-paying, unfulfilling job in a field directly related to my degree. Yes, I CHOSE to give all of that up (haha) to stay home and raise my children. Why? Aside from the fact that I'd actually like to look after and raise the children I gave birth to, my job didn't pay enough to cover daycare costs. There is a HUGE wage gap in this country, especially among educated workers, and while at first glance that seems like a bad thing, it has given me the opportunity to raise my children to be good people. I'm not saying that all daycare kids turn out badly, I'm just saying that I want to be in my children's life.
It turns out that there are a lot of other women that think like that. I recently went to a MOMS club open house, and discovered that here is a large community of stay-at-home mom's in my area. Like myself, many of them have college degrees and were working in their fields before having kids. Like me, many chose to stay home with their children, rather than turning over 90%+ of their paychecks to a daycare center.
I'm hopeful that the sacrifice of many women such as myself will result in a new generation of hard-working American's that can help turn this country around and get it back on track. The generation of young adults born in the 90's is a great example of what we need to avoid. Kids need their parents, and I'm proud to say that I'm here for mine.
