A Vent

I need to vent for a moment. Somehow I got sucked into this ridiculous website yesterday where parents can write down their most flame-worthy opinions. Most of them were silly and petty and there were even a few things I can't believe parents would say. There was one that really got my attention.

"I think SAHMs (stay at home moms) set bad examples for their daughters and I am embarrassed to be around women who don't work."

This really got me fired up and I started thinking. I went to college to have a career. To be able to provide for the kind of life that I wanted. I never would have thought that I would end up staying at home with my kids. I always assumed that I wouldn't have the ability to stay home, that I would have to work. I saw how hard my mom worked (two jobs) just to be able to provide for my brother and I. I was just positive that when it came time, I would be working, the kids would be in day care, and it would not be the end of the world. This even happened for 8 months.

Then we got transferred here and there's not very many options for me to work, so it made more sense for me to stay at home. It may not be what I went to school for, but I work just as hard at home (if not more) as I would (and did) at a desk job. I may even like it more than my old job. I get to watch my kids grow up. I don't think that many desk jobs get benefits like that. I may not contribute financially like I had been in the past, but I like to think that I contribute in new ways now.

Being a stay at home mom may not have been my career of choice, but I enjoy it and hope that I can stay home with the kids until it makes sense for me to get back into the work force. I hope my girls are proud of me for being able to stay home. I hope that they don't think that I set a bad example for them. I hope that my staying at home with them gives them the love, support, and encouragement to show them that they can do whatever they want in life and that you can do something you never thought you would.