Tuesday, January 23, 2007

I just don't get it

What is it with the whole "Stay at home" mom verses "Work out of the home" mom debate??

Why is it that so many people are SOOOOO concerned with being RIGHT, that they can't respect the fact that people can and will do things differently, and also do them well??

Luckily, I am able to stay at home with my boys. Luckily, I get to wake up each morning and spend the day with them creating memories and loving all over them. Everyone is not a LUCKY as I am. Some women even say that there is no way in hell that they *could* stay home. Now...do I like hearing that? Not really. Can I do anything about it? No. Do I understand where they are coming from?

Yep. I certainly do.

Staying at home with your children is NOT an easy thing to do. Some days, I have to remind myself that being at home with my boys IS a blessing. There are some mornings that I wish Kelly would stay home, and I could go to work and actually interact with GROWN adults. Does this make me a bad Mother? I certainly think NOT. Does this make me human? Yep. I can go days at a time without having any brain stimulation other than "go fish". The words that make up my vocabulary on any given day are: poopy, diaper, snack, sippy cup,...etc., etc.

I do yearn for interaction with the adult world. I think this is one of the reasons that I really enjoy blogging. Number one, it shows me that I am not alone in my feelings about motherhood, and number two, it allows me to excercise my brain. I do that daily, but mostly on a 4 year old and 1 year old level. Even more so when my Husband is working non-stop and I simply wake up to feel the weight of him in the bed next to me at night, and then kiss him goodbye in the mornings.

I have a college education. Some days it's hard to believe that. I studied in Spain for a summer and lived with a Spanish family. I attended college in Spain. I taught high school Spanish for a year, I was a Director for an after school program and summer camp for under privileged kids.

I am now a Mother, and I take that job title just as seriously as I did all of the others.

I am proud to have been, and be, all of those things.

I respect all of the other mothers/parents in the world who love their children, and do the best they can for them just as I do. No matter whether they are home with them every day, or at work.

It doesn't mean they love their children any less than I do, they just DO it differently.

5 comments:

OneHungMan said...

That was an interesting post.

Occasionally, OneHung thinks it would be fun to be a stay at home mom. Then reality sets in and he's thankful that YoungHung goes to play at daycare/school with others his age while OHM goes off to work to play with those his age.

However, when YoungHung is a couple of years older, OHM thinks he could really dig being a stay at home mom:

--Get up and get YoungHung ready for school
--drop off YoungHung at school
--play golf
--pick up YoungHung after school

Yeah, that's the life for OHM.

musicalmomof2 said...

I am right with you, sister! As an at home mom of two girls, aged 11 and 9, I am right where I want to be! At home parenting requires a lot of work. I certainly can't imagine working an outside of the home full time job. I don't judge people that do work outside the home, but I would greatly appreciate mutual respect. I, too, consider my self very lucky and blessed to be able to stay at home.

Anonymous said...

Love you post -- all I have to do is change the word "moms" to "dads" and it will apply to me, a stay-at-home parent.

On a very unrelated point: I personally prefer to be called a stay-at-home parent. The acronym for a stay-at-home dad is ... well, SAhD.

Not good since I enjoy taking care of my two kids.


Mike
http://somethingaboutparenting.typepad.com/

Lori said...

Sorry Mike!!! I didn't mean to leave out the AWESOME stay at home Dad's out there! :)

You guys deserve the same amount of respect as every other stay at home parent. Maybe even a little more because you are stepping up, and stepping "out" of the status quo of society.

You ROCK my fellow stay at home parent!! :)

L said...

There's a fight between SAHM's and Workies? Really? Where?
Let me at 'em. They can meet me behind the bike racks at recess.
Really, we women could rule the world if we weren't always running around picking on each other for personal choices that don't really effect anything or anyone.
Live and let live, I say.
Stay strong, sister.
I got your back.