Sunday 7 September 2014

Stop Adding "Just A" in Front of Stay-At-Home Mom

One of my biggest pet peeves is when I hear my friends who are stay at home moms say they are "Just a stay at home mom." Why do some stay at home mom's (or dad's) say "Just a…" in front??

This has bothered my for quite sometime. I am a mom of a wonderful 11 year old boy who is my world. If I could afford to stay at home with him I would have chosen to do so, however, given my sitation at the time as a single mom, it wasn't in the cards for me. So I reluctantly ventured back into the corporate world after my year long Maternity leave. (we get one year meternity leave in Canada!)

Several of my friends opted to stay at home with their children for various reasons such as daycare was too expensive, they couldn't bare to have someone else look after their kids, they had no desire to go back to the corporate world and wanted to focus on raising their kids…and so on. Whatever their reasoning it was a choice they happily made and felt it was the best thing for their family. Not one of my friends who is a stay at home mom has regretted leaving the corporate world to focus on their family…and I find such beauty in that!


My girlfriends and I recently got together for a girls night dinner and I asked the question "Why do you say "just a" in front of stay at home mom?" Here were some of their responses:
  • Corporate Mom's feel value from what they do - they get paid to do a job and get recongnised by peers for their work.
  • Corporate Moms don't have to ask their spouses for money or have an allowance. You can go an buy something for yourself without checking with your spouse first. You have your own money..or atleast feel like it's your won little nest.
  • Corporate Moms get to talk about business rather than poop, snacks, laundry, doctor appointments, and naps
  • Corporate Moms have something other than their kids and spouse to focus on - their whole world isn't about everyone else. It would be nice to have something of my own that I have accomplished that isn't about the family.
Needless to say, some of these reasons truly broke my heart. (You may not feel this way. These are only the perspectives of a few of my stay-at-home mom friends - not all stay-at-home moms feel this way). It was the last point that really stuck with me though.

What my friends don't know is that I long to be a stay at home mom. Your entire family depends on you to ensure the house functions properly and without you..let's be honest, the entire system would fail. So in my eyes…Stay at home moms, are really the CEO of the family and are in charge of ensuring everything runs smoothly. So when I say, Stay at home moms have the most important job…I truly mean that!
But none the less their feelings are valid to them. My son is now 11, and I feel like I have missed out on so much. Yes, I love my job, but it's not more important that being there for my son in the moments that really count. And being a stay at home mom allows for that…but how can I do this?

For the past year I have been scowering the internet for jobs where I could work from home…let me tell you, there are a ton of scams, or false advertising. so if you are doing the same, do your due diligence, and anything that promises you XX amount of dollars a week is likely not real.

I have settled on Rodan + Fields - an antiage skincare line that is made by the same doctors who created Proactiv, so I know it's a reputible company. Fortunately I will be one of the first in Canada to represent this skincare line, so that's a huge advantage in being one of the first.

I have invited a few of my Stay-at-home moms to join my team…we now have 5 moms who have joined. Together I know we will be sucessful in growing out business by only workin a few hours a week, while still being able to focus on what we do best being Moms! All 5 moms have said they can't wait to have something of their own that they accomplished that isn't just about the family….but will benefit the family too.

If this post resignated with you, and you have similar feeling as my friends let's connect and help you to create something of your own, that will help benefit you family! To be successful you truly only need 5- 10 hours a week, and you can do most of it over the internet.

To all the stay at home moms…you are much more than "Just a"…much, much more. Keep up the great work, you are doing an awesome job and your family is luckt to have you leading the way!

Sue

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