In Praise of Stay-at-Home Moms

While feeling down (due to PMS) and walking through Wegmans, I came across this book: In Praise of Stay-at-Home Moms by Dr. Laura Schlessinger. I've been dealing with some mental/emotional issues with my decision to stay at home, so thought I might give the book a look-through and see what it had to say. I am so glad I bought it!

As a working mother with two college degrees, I have had a range of reactions to my decision to leave work. Some have supported my decision and said "That's great!" Others have been more negative and implied that I was going to lose my skills/intelligence/usefulness by leaving my job. Granted, the naysayers are fewer in number than the encouragers, but it can be hard to deal with when they are people you respect (or thought you respected).

This book was totally helpful to me in that it a) helped to validate my decision to stay home and b) offered wisdom on dealing with the changes that will occur and the various emotions that will come as I change my perspective. I also agree with Dr. Laura's assessment that colleges train women to think that their best contribution to the world should come from being 'career women.'

I went back to work after Joseph was born because I felt like I 'had to' for financial/benefits reasons, and, honestly, because I felt like I 'needed to' in order to prove that I could do both (since I'm so 'educated'). As a result, I've had more struggles with trying not to cry as I leave my son every morning--although thankfully I have had the privilege of having my sister, a very loving auntie, watching him instead of an institution--than I ever have had with leaving work at the end of the day. My entire life has changed, and I no longer want to put my energy into primarily supporting work instead of my family.

Don't get me wrong - I love my job, have a great boss and co-workers, and feel very blessed to have been able to earn income doing something I like for 4+ years. I know many other people would trade places with me in a heartbeat. However, my son is more important, and there is no one else in the world (not even my mom or sister or mother-in-law) who can be his MOM!

Here's to all the stay-at-home moms out there - HIP, HIP, HOORAY! I look forward to joining you soon.

Status update

I haven't written on here in a long time. Thought I'd bring this up to speed so I can move on.

Our son, Joseph, was born on September 15, 2010 at 7:12 pm after 2 days of labor. I ended up having a Caesarean but he was healthy which was the most important thing! Being a mom is alternately wonderful and exhausting, but I wouldn't trade my little boy for anything.

Our dog, Link, did very well with Joseph. However, he seemed to have some sort of sickness that worsened when we switched him to a raw diet, and we had to put him down the weekend after Thanksgiving. He was only 10 months old. It was really, really hard (and sad) but we are happy that he is no longer sick. We miss him.

Life is very full and continues to change each day. I love my family and look forward to what is ahead!