You know, it really doesn't matter what you do -- I got flak for going back to work after my daughter was born, then I got flak for staying home after my son was born. The most important thing is that my kids are turning out great -- and everyone in my family admits it, and the most amazing thing of all is that they give me almost all the credit for it, including DH! Ya gotta love that!
How many Coach mommies are SAHMs?
- Thread starter Chrystal162
- Start date
I am a SAHM to my 2 daughters, ages 4 and 5. My older daughter is in full-time kindergarten, and my younger is in preschool 2 mornings a week.
I also babysit a friend's 2-year-old daughter full time, and in the spring she'll have a baby brother who I'll babysit as well. Gives me a little extra "play money" and a playmate for my younger daughter! Luckily my DH makes a great salary and we are able to sacrifice a bit so that I can stay home. I'll go to nursing school once we don't have kids at home anymore.
I get flak from my SIL, of all people! She takes every opportunity to call me simple, lazy, and many more lovely names. She stayed at home with her 3 year old for the first 3 months and said she couldn't do it, because he was "draining the life out of her" and she was losing her mind.
I also babysit a friend's 2-year-old daughter full time, and in the spring she'll have a baby brother who I'll babysit as well. Gives me a little extra "play money" and a playmate for my younger daughter! Luckily my DH makes a great salary and we are able to sacrifice a bit so that I can stay home. I'll go to nursing school once we don't have kids at home anymore.
I get flak from my SIL, of all people! She takes every opportunity to call me simple, lazy, and many more lovely names. She stayed at home with her 3 year old for the first 3 months and said she couldn't do it, because he was "draining the life out of her" and she was losing her mind.
+1. Unfortunately, if you are a mother who works, you hear all about how their growth is stunted without you and what a bad parent you are for abandoning them (I have heard this from my co-workers even). If you stay home, you hear how you're not contributing, or not important because "all you do it take care of kids". What I can't understand is why women don't realize exactly what Toto said - it doesn't matter what you do so long as your kids come away adjusted, loved and able to handle life in their own unique way.
ME TOO.....EXACTLY!!!! My son will be 9 in April and my daughter will be 6 in March!!!!! And I have been a SAHM for NINE years as well!!!! And I'm LOVING it!!!! We have so much in common!!!I'm a SAHM for 9 yrs now. Got 2 kids, a boy (8) & a girl (6). I'm loving it!
I'm home with my kids --a seven year old and twin four year olds--and work part time from home. I made a significant career change to do this, and I wouldn't trade it. I really loved what I did, but my DH works long hours, too, and it just woudn't have worked with both of us having to travel for our jobs.
I so admire all mothers--working in the home or outside of it--because it is a tremendous juggling act and a huge responsibility. I marvel at my girlfriends who handle a corporate job with their kids and they look at me and wonder how I meet my deadlines with three kids underfoot and a husband that travels. We have a mutual respect for one another's efforts, because being a mother is hard enough without pitting one group against another.
It's also why I treat myself to the occasional Coach bag. I may be in jeans most of the time but it sure is nice to dress up with a handbag now and then!
Hats off to all moms!
I so admire all mothers--working in the home or outside of it--because it is a tremendous juggling act and a huge responsibility. I marvel at my girlfriends who handle a corporate job with their kids and they look at me and wonder how I meet my deadlines with three kids underfoot and a husband that travels. We have a mutual respect for one another's efforts, because being a mother is hard enough without pitting one group against another.
It's also why I treat myself to the occasional Coach bag. I may be in jeans most of the time but it sure is nice to dress up with a handbag now and then!
Hats off to all moms!
I am a SAHM to my children, almost 13 year old daughter (my St. Patricks Day baby!) and 5 year old son. Ive been home w/them for the past three years and am loving every minute of it. My children are sooo much happier having me home, and my husband loves it too. I "work" much harder now than I ever did in my other life, but I like my "employers" so much better!
I been a stay at home mom for over 6 years, just this last year I started working part time while my kids are at school. So I still feel like a stay at home mom cause my job at home has not changed at all , but having this part time job helps me have more fun at the store.
I'm 24, I did the college thing traditionally, and am in the National Guard and married for 6 months now. So, I'm only coming from that perspective and the perspective of being 10 years older than my younger brothers - so I was like another mom to them and I am fiercely protective/crying because of how old they are getting. I am so proud of them. Anyway - I think that some people are just unhappy in their lives and would love nothing more than to tear you down - so that is why some of you get crap for going to work, and for staying at home - you just can't win! So don't even try. You do what makes you happy, and 'forget all the haters'...that's what I say. Just tell people that they must have a lot of free time if they are able to analyze your life's choices that way!
All I know is, my parents worked a lot when I was growing up and I had to learn to take care of myself, but there is still other things I am slightly naive on. So neither way is perfect - you just do the best you can. My mom works out of the home and is always around for my brothers...she started doing that at the end of high school so they basically grew up with a SAHM. She wishes that she could have been there for me - she got to see a lot of my senior year of HS so that was worth it, but I understand her perspective. I just told her I didn't feel neglected - our financial situation at home dictated that both parents had to work. I am grateful for all they tried to provide for me, though we were not well off at all, they never made me work when I was in high school because they wanted me to focus on schoolwork and sports so I could go to a good college and do something neither of them did. So, I lived up to my part of the bargain.
I envision for our future that hopefully one of us will be able to stay at home. It sort of depends on whose career is giving more $$ and whether that career alone can fund our lives and lives of our children. I shudder to think about bringing kids into this world when I'm still at a selfish stage in my life - I want to deploy and go on missions with my unit and do a lot of things that keep me busy and out of the home. I also am not financially ready for kids in terms of providing for their basic needs. I would be proud to be a SAHM but it may turn out that DH stays home full time - he can take our kids fishing and out hiking and all sorts of stuff and he is actually excited at the prospect of doing everything out of the home. So maybe it will turn out like that?
All I know is, my parents worked a lot when I was growing up and I had to learn to take care of myself, but there is still other things I am slightly naive on. So neither way is perfect - you just do the best you can. My mom works out of the home and is always around for my brothers...she started doing that at the end of high school so they basically grew up with a SAHM. She wishes that she could have been there for me - she got to see a lot of my senior year of HS so that was worth it, but I understand her perspective. I just told her I didn't feel neglected - our financial situation at home dictated that both parents had to work. I am grateful for all they tried to provide for me, though we were not well off at all, they never made me work when I was in high school because they wanted me to focus on schoolwork and sports so I could go to a good college and do something neither of them did. So, I lived up to my part of the bargain.
I envision for our future that hopefully one of us will be able to stay at home. It sort of depends on whose career is giving more $$ and whether that career alone can fund our lives and lives of our children. I shudder to think about bringing kids into this world when I'm still at a selfish stage in my life - I want to deploy and go on missions with my unit and do a lot of things that keep me busy and out of the home. I also am not financially ready for kids in terms of providing for their basic needs. I would be proud to be a SAHM but it may turn out that DH stays home full time - he can take our kids fishing and out hiking and all sorts of stuff and he is actually excited at the prospect of doing everything out of the home. So maybe it will turn out like that?
I'm a navy wife too! I know how hard the deployments are... so if you need anything, or someone to talk to, PM me for my email or phone number, ok? In 2006 I saw DH for only 1.5 months.
It was so hard, and we didn't even have our baby yet!I also have a very high needs baby (born at 29 weeks), which means that I'm a SAHM by default. I wanted to stay a home mom anyway, but when I used to mention that to people, my friends always questioned me, because I used to be very career-minded and academic (Class President for 3 years, Student body president as a Junior... academic honors... PhD bound.... you know, that person)... everything just changed when I found out I was growing a little person in me.
I do plan on one day doing all of the things I wanted to do, but I'm waiting until we're done with our baby-making. As tough as it is with having a high needs baby, I wouldn't trade being a SAHM for the world. Haha... even though the baby-who-does-not-sleep keeps me up till 4am, it's worth it for me.
That said, I absolutely respect the choice women make to work or not work. The same with breastfeeding... it's a personal decision that we all have to make, and it's to suit our own lives. I don't like judgy people.
And because I'm nosy... what was the other thread that the OP mentioned?
^ I also second Demosthenes, if anybody needs to talk to someone that has been through deployments on both sides of the fence (spouse/SM) to please contact me as well! DH and I are both in for a career so this kind of thing is our job for life, but that doesn't mean that we don't feel the emotion behind a long and tough mission where we are separated. It's a very complex world, the military. But we're all here for each other.