I am a Stay at Home Mom and, yes, I do work

-
Below is a letter from Stay at Home Mom Britney Dickens that she shared with us recently:

I work 12+ hour shifts as a house cleaner, chef (meaning not only cook the food but I make the recipe on the menu), nutritionist, childcare provider, nurse, teacher, and counselor all in one day. I do this seven days a week, consistently. I do this for free, I volunteer this time and have done this for 3 years straight. Now I work double-time and have done this for 16 months. 
I've had people tell me I can't keep a job, but I think what I do is harder than what you do, by far. If you walked a day in my shoes, you would be sore, aching, and most likely had enough of it. Now I will be doing school at night as well as a f/t online student. I work 12+ hours a day as 7 different job titles + more, without pay. I volunteer my time....why the heck would I do this? Because I am a stay at home mom - a homemaker. 
I love my children enough to dedicate my life to them, free of charge. I work 3x as hard as you, for no money, because of love. Because I can. I work AT LEAST 12 hours >every< day, with no pay. I choose this because I would rather raise my kids and know they are being brought up correctly than pay some stranger to do it for me. 
In this 12 hour + day, I get no breaks. I work whether or not I'm sick, I work whether or not you realize it. So before you tell a mother who stays at home with their children that they don't work or don't do enough, keep in mind what we ACTUALLY do for our children and family. Keep in mind that we work at least 12 hours a day, no breaks, whether or not we are sick, seven days a week, relentlessly, for free....because we love, and I love, the children made and provided for. 
Being a mother is harder than you realize. Giving up is much easier. It takes strength and perseverance to not give up and to keep pushing. So before you doubt why I do what I do and don't go off and get a job in the meantime of graduation, it is because I love my children and want them raised right... because if I do get a job before a degree, I will literally be working to pay childcare and have maybe $100 left over, IF that. So I choose to work 3x more than you because I love what I do, for who I do it for.


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Holiday Season

-
 We're back. But more on that later! This year's holiday season is upon us and with everything going on in the world we have to get a little more creative to bring the sparkle for our little ones. This year is a great year to get back to making holiday chains out of recycled paper and a little scotch tape and spending more time snuggling and less time stressing. With holiday budgets having to be watched a little more closely every penny counts when making your holiday purchasing decisions. One of my favorite holiday traditions is the advent calendar . The only reason I am bringing this one up so early - it's not even Thanksgiving yet! - is it's important to start your Advent calendar on the first day of December. That means a little planning ahead. The advent calendar gives our family a chance to all come together and at least once a day talk about the real meaning of the season and at the same time getting a little surprise each and every day. One of our family's f
Read more

5 Tips for Creating a Healthy Environment for Kids

-
Image
Guest Post by:  Jana Free Moms want the best for their kids. They want their children to feel good and to be  happy. They want them with smiles on their faces and joy in their heart. As a mom, do you often wonder if there is some kind of magic object that you  can pull out of a hat, or a magic spell you could cast, to create this perfect  scenario? I’m pretty sure there’s no object or spell, but I do know that a healthy  environment is like a magic wand that can keep kids’ eyes bright and their bodies  full of good energy. How do we moms create a healthy environment for our kids? We focus on  keeping physical spaces clean and we do more. We make sure that each aspect  of our kids’ lives is as free from toxins as we can get it. Which means we look at  the food we eat as well as the attitude we keep. The following are 5 tips for creating a healthy environment for kids. 1. Model Good Food Choices Children usually eat what they’re served and what they see others eating. As 
Read more

Summer Book Club for all ages

-
Image
It almost seems incredible but I have heard people say to me "I just don't have time to read". That is the precise reason a person must read! And for those of you who have caught yourself saying that then make your first book one on time management. YES! We do have time to read. When our kids are very little we must read to them. The more we read to them the more they will grow up loving books. Kids love books that they can grab ahold of and turn the pages and look at the silly pictures even before they have a sense that there are words on those pages. But the more we read to them the more they figure it out. And when you have little kids like this in your house it might seem like you don't have time to read but you don't always have to read baby books to them. There was a great scene in the movie Three Men and a Baby where Tom Selleck's character was reading Sports Illustrated or some other grownup magazine to the baby. It didn't matter what th
Read more