Confessions of Another Stay at Home Mom

Heather Michelle tells her story as a stay-at-home-mom in her article titled "Confessions of a Stay at Home Mom". I, myself, am a stay-at-home-mom and found this article very interesting even though I agree and disagree with what she says. With this in mind, I have decided to compare this article with my own life as a stay-at-home-mom and discuss it here.

The first confession Ms. Michelle discusses is housecleaning. Ms. Michelle claims that cleaning is a necessary task that stay-at-home-moms must tend to, but is not as bad as it they claim it to be. In reality, at my house anyway, some days it is even worse than stay-at-home-moms claim. I believe that the amount of housecleaning that has to be done and the amount of time that it takes is different for each household. I know that for my own house, the amount of cleaning to do and the amount of time to do it varies from week to week depending on how big a mess my family has made and if my teenage daughter is in a cleaning mood or not on Sunday. If our daughter is in a house-cleaning mood, then, thanks to her, I will have a good head start on the week's cleaning.

The second confession is that stay-at-home-moms take naps. This confession I do agree with. Yes, even I take naps if I choose to and no, I do not take one every day. But, I know for a fact that stay-at-home-moms are not the only moms who take naps, working moms take naps when they can also. I know this because a working mom raised me and she still to this day takes naps after work if she chooses. Just because a woman is a stay-at-home-mom does not guarantee she will get to take a nap. Moms with small children cannot guarantee how long they will sleep and moms with school age children do not always have the luxury of a nap either. I have two teenage children and the only day this past week that I decided to take a nap, they called to let me know that they were coming home from school earlier, so no nap.

The third confession stated is running errands. This stay-at-home-mom cannot stand to run errands. So, I would have to disagree with Ms. Michelle's statement about enjoying "doing errands".

Confession number four states, "we would rather be working". I really do not know if I would agree with Ms. Michelle on this statement or not. The thought of going to work crosses my mind occasionally, especially the thought of having a second paycheck. But this thought usually leaves when one of my children needs or just wants me to do something with them or for them, or my husband is on his days off from work. As for a sense of identity and accomplishment, I do not seem to be lacking either of them in my life.

Statement number five mentions the fact that stay at home moms raise their children, and love being involved in their lives on an everyday, all day basis. This is the main reason I choose to be a stay-at-home-mom. I love having the opportunity to attend any activity my children participate in without having to arrange to miss work, or ask for the time off if a child is sick.

Number six of these confessions is that "we have plenty of time for entertainment." What Ms. Michelle says is true in my life, most of the time. If I choose to stop what I am doing and watch a soap opera, or get on the internet, then I will do just that. At my house, no one cares as long as the house is clean, the laundry is done, food is cooked and ready when they are ready to eat and mom is ready to spend time with them when they are home.

Frustration is the topic of confession number seven. This frustration involves the never-ending job of raising children, which incidentally, is the career the stay-at-home-mom has chosen. Raising children is not all fun and games. A child that is hyperactive, sick or just needs a nap can get on moms last nerve, especially when the hours turn into day. Even a stay-at-home-mom deserves a break, but seldom do they get a 2-week vacation.

The topic of confession number eight is that stay-at-home-moms feel they are entitled to a paycheck. I may be different from most stay-at-home-moms, but I do not let the question of a paycheck bug me too much. When I made the decision to be a stay-at-home-mom I did not consider the amount of money what I did would be worth. To me, this is not important and most days the experience is priceless.

Confession number 9 is that "we are envious of our counterparts." This is another topic that I can definitely relate to. Luckily, my husband has always been able to tell when I need a break from the kids. There are times, however, I do wish that he would stay home with the kids and I could leave, but I do not want to go to his place of employment to work. In comparison, I will take my job as mom over his as a supervisor any day.

My opinion of being a stay-at-home-mom is that this is what I choose to do. I believe that raising our children and taking care of my husband along with our household are the most important jobs I have, and will probably ever have.