Shuffle Saturday: Stay-at-Home Moms Work Hard Too!

My mom was a stay-at-home mom. She never worked outside the home but rather kept busy caring, loving, and raising us five kids through the years. In her day, staying at home was almost unheard of as her generation established careers outside the home. I never understood her sacrifice nor her dedication until I myself stayed at home.

Today, staying at home is a little more acceptable....or at least more common than it was when my mom did it. I run into quite a few stay-at-home moms on my outings during the week, all with young kids. And we are all getting out of the house.

In spite of staying-at-home being more common, I got the "look" over Christmas from a close acquaintance no less. I believe her comment was "what do you do?" Aside from feeling demeaned, I proceeded to tell her what our weeks look like. We have play group on Monday mornings. We go to music class on Tuesday mornings. We go to story time at the local library on Wednesday mornings. We sometimes go to open gym at the nearby community center. And we always try to do a craft during the week. Then we usually finish the week with a doctors appointment (since I am pregnant). Her response, "Oh, I am so glad you get out."

Did you think staying at home meant we have no life? I would like to speak directly to this often misunderstand misconception before we go on. Yes, we do have a life and it is quite full and very busy.

Please understand that we do work hard, if not harder, than most people.

Just because we stay at home, people falsely perceive us as not working hard and having a lot of extra time on our hands. Need I remind you that if you are a mom with small kids, then you do not have much down time. For every activity we do during the week, please add on the time it takes to get dressed and ready, load up in the car, the time to get home, the time given to lunch, the time to settle down for nap, the time for snack, the evening hour, and so on. On top of that, we attempt to do chores around the house, run errands, play games, and manage our household. I would say, this all happens in a days work.

To further settle the confusion, stay-at-homes moms have the hardest job on earth. I used to work in politics which compared to a normal work environment it is very intense. Political careers and campaigning usually require 24/7 time commitments with low pay, little sleep, lots of work, and time spent away from family and friends. After I became a mom, I tell people that staying at home is so much harder than politics as sometimes you work all night instead of quitting at 10:00pm.

Moms have many different job titles. I would like to think of myself as "Chef, Janitor, Chauffeur, Manager of a Laundromat, Scheduler, Professional Organizer, Seamstress, Photographer, Distributor and Supplier, Decorator, Teacher, and Daycare Provider" to name a few.

The time spent staying at home with young kids may be hard. And honestly some days it is not much fun. The benefits are often too few and far between. But when you do get rewarded by your kid, it is the most worthwhile and fulfilling feeling in the world. Knowing that you are there for your child during the day is rewarding in and of itself. So hats off to all you stay-at-home moms. Keep up the good work and hang in there. We know you are working hard.