The Luxurious Life of a Stay at Home Mom

If you are reading this because the title caught your attention you are probably either a stay-at-home mom who read it and thought, “this girl is CRAZY, I WISH me being a stay-at-home mom was all that!”. OR you are a mom who works in the office thinking, “See, I told you, those stay-at-home moms do nothing but sleep and have fun!”. Well, the title is true in some aspects and yet so far from the truth in other ways.

I am a stay-at-home mom. I have been since a couple of weeks before my son was born almost 15 years ago! I have owned my own photography business and worked part-time in a few places but for the most part, I have been home for most of the 15 years. Currently, I am running my blog as a full-time home business, I write for five other bloggers, once a week I clean our church, I am a wife, a mother of three, a foster mother, I help feed our local high school’s football team for every home game, I am my husband’s sidekick at any youth group functions/activities, I cook, I clean, I occasionally take long hot baths and grab a few hours of sleep in the wee hours of the morning. So, I may stay at home but I stay super busy.

Sometimes, I get jealous. Jealous of those working moms who go to work at 8 am, work in a nice big office WITH grown-ups who have adult conversations, have a short list to accomplish at work, and leave work with a smile because they are proud of all their accomplishments throughout the day, swing by the daycare, pick up a take out order, and head home to a clean home (because no one was home to make a mess). Wait… that’s NOT how it goes?!

I know that isn’t how it works but you, just like me, sometimes see all the “Sunshine and lollipops” of another mom’s life and think about how amazing it would be. The truth is, we all have struggles whether we stay home or work out of the home. You may see the sunshine but don’t see the shadows! Where my life is hectic with knocks on the door anytime I have to use the bathroom, you just want to be home loving on your babies. While you may be stressed out from deadlines at work, I wish I could for once have a deadline to meet just to feel accomplished.

Life is never going to be all sunshine and lollipops. I am right where I need to be… because this is what (for the most part), makes me happy. For you, staying home 24/7 would drive you insane but being in an office, makes you happy (for the most part).

We will never be completely in love with every aspect of our jobs but doing what we love makes the job OURS. I can’t live your life and you can’t live mine. Doing what you love isn’t what I would love… and that is ok. That’s why we are all different!! So, the important thing is that we are doing what we love and not trying to do someone else’s job. Just because I work at home does not mean you have to. Just because you work out of the home, I don’t have to. Be YOU!

Now, let me go back to sipping my coffee and reading my book. Just kidding… I have to run to pick up my daughter’s medicine, pick my daughter up from preschool, and then drive 20 minutes away to get in the car line at my son’s school.