It's so hard to describe what it means to be a "Stay At Home" parent, and what the daily (or even minute by minute) demands truly look like. It feels like even my biggest supporter, Sweet Harper's Daddy, doesn't always get what it is like to work in my shoes 24/7. This newspaper column, by Carolyn Hax, is from 2007, so maybe old news to you, but I read it for the first time just a few days ago.
Read the column...share your thoughts.
{This scanned article came to me via Facebook, but you can find a link to the column here.}
What do you think?
Is Hax's response fitting to your day-to-day as a stay at home parent?
Have you ever felt like you were being judged?
I will be back to share my thoughts, and I have a few, on Friday.
I will be back to share my thoughts, and I have a few, on Friday.
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8 comments:
Yeah. Wow. This makes me frustrated, but also devilishly desires the opportunity to leave my daughter with a non-stay-at-home-parent for at least two hours (along with a cleaning list) and check back with them.
As a stay-at-home mom (just recovering from baby sickies) there is NO break. YES, it's lots of work, but it IS also the best thing ever.
AND, I've never picked up dry-cleaning. My husband does that.
BRAVO for sharing this. Love.
I think Carolyn did an excellent job summing it up! It is very demanding work and can be difficult and frustrating at times too. But it is the most rewarding and joyful job I've ever had in my life! And I wouldn't trade a thing for my two sweet blessings from God and the opportunity and responsibility to be home with them each and every day. Now I need to go rescue the 16 month old climbing on the loveseat. :)
Thanks for posting this!
I read this a while ago and my only thought: I can't wait til this lady has a baby - maybe she will be blessed with twins.
I've never seen this before; thanks for posting! Somehow Carolyn managed to put into words (at least as much as possible) the frantic yet joyous state of being a mom. Whether SAH, WAH, or whatever, those moments with your kids are just energy-sucking insanity! Happy, fulfilling insanity, but still, they zap you. And anyone who wants to say otherwise can go jump in the lake!
It's so much more than the physical activities you do with your kiddos. It's the emotional demands. It's so freaking hard to be shouted at and under-appreciated all day long. I mean seriously, you probably didn't really THANK your parents for being your parent until you were a parent yourself. You just don't get it until you have kids yourself.
So many nails hit right on the head with this one! Only a mom who is blessed to be at home with her kiddos all day long could truly understand the day to day life. So, right, Jenny...it's much more than a list of duties. We are the emotional life lines for our developing littles throughout the day and very often forget to take the time to attend to our own emotional "grown up" needs (let along physical ones!). It's a joy and a privilege, but so incredibly underestimated by those who don't have children!
I love the way she described a SAHM's day. It is so accurate and well written. Thanks for the post!
yes, i love this article, too! so dead on. i want to forward it to all of my single friends who think i am lame-o for not being able to hang out all the time! you really can't understand how demaning and hard it is until you have kids! i, too, LOVE that i get to be home with my little guy but some days i think i would love being back at work, too. it's still new for me..only 1 year...so i take it one day at a time!
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