Love Being a Mom!

So I was recently asked to write about why I chose to stay home from work and be a mom. This is a decision that didn't just happen overnight. Because even someone who has the chance to be a stay at home mom will put other things in the way if that desire is not there. I wanted to be the kind of person who is busy, accomplishing and always finding ways to grow and progress personally. Of course I thought that meant not staying at home and being just a mom cause everybody knows that stay at home mom's do nothing. haha. Anyway little by little I gained my conviction and desire to come home and be there raising the little love of my life. I guess you could say there were some influential people who impressed me a long the way. Not because of what they told me but because of what I saw. While working at a couple of preschools I whittnessed a lot of tears and heartache. It was always sad to see little 12-18 month old kids be dropped off in the morning around 6 or 7:00 and then picked up that night around 5-6:00. And the parents had no influence whatsoever in the teaching, raising, loving or nurturing of their child for a near 12 hours that day. And that's not just a one day thing. For most it is a 5 days a week thing!

Well so I guess you could say that working there had a lot to do with it too. I was one of the lucky ones who could have my son with me through the day. But it is still so different than being in a loving home environment with your child. I was missing the morning hugs and breakfast together because I was rushing to get us ready and in the car. I was missing cuddling and rocking because Owen would usually fall asleep for the night on the way home from work. And a lot was lacking in my role as a wife too. I didn't have the energy to give Brad the love and support he needed. I was too tired to make dinner and most of the time cleaning up was very random to completely non-existent.

Since I made my decision and came home I have felt so much peace. I'm able to send my husband off with a mountain of love and support every day and be the teacher and nurturer my little boy needs me to be. I feel like I have made good friends so Owen can still get his play time and I have learned to continue to use my talents in other ways. I learned to play the piano when I was young so now I am able to use that ability to teach. That takes up maybe a few hours a week and that is something I am able to do from home to bring in a little extra income.

I think for any mom who is debating whether or not to stay at home because of this or that. I say do it now. This is when they need us the most and want to give us their love. A friend told me that all the girls in her family accept her were working while being moms. And they were all jealous of her and were telling her that she was so lucky she didn't have to do anything and she could just stay home. But then when they got to talking about it, they liked having the extra money and the nice things. They didn't want to give up shopping and having the extra money to buy their favorite brand-named jeans or whatever. When I heard this, I got to thinking that the longer you stay working, the less likely you probably are to ever come home cause it would be so easy to get used to the double incomes. And then life and problems would grow based on that. So I realized it doesn't always come without sacrifices to be a stay at home mom, but it's so worth it that it doesn't seem like a sacrifice at all.


Cool Dude on the Potty

Owen and I have had a ton of fun practicing the potty thing! He is doing really well and looks so cute in his little underwear! As long as their is sometime to entertain him for a minute or two, he has no problem using the potty!