Stay At Home Mom

This does not actually mean we stay in our houses all day, every day. We leave to go to the park, grocery store, gym, play dates, church, gymnastics class, swimming lessons, moms morning out, the mall, Target, etc.

But it does mean that our home is our place of employment, our job, our work, our office. And there are no high heels, nice clothes, or make up required. There are no awards, accolades, or achievements recognized. There are no salaries, bonuses, sick days or paid vacations.

There are a lot of diapers, poop, throw up, snotty noses, boo-boo’s and band aids. There is whining, crying, arguing, fighting, and back talking. There is little sleep or rest or time off.

When I go out to business functions with my husband and people ask me what I do, I respond with stay at home Mom. Sometimes, I can physically feel their respect for me plummet. They just give me that glazed over look with their eyes like they are placating me speaking for the moment in their presence.

Our society is backwards. We pay our athletes and actors an exorbitant amount of money that could literally feed whole nations for the rest of their lives. Let’s face it, they could end world poverty. And we pay our teachers and school coaches and pastors just enough to be above the poverty level. What the heck is wrong with this picture?

And then when you tell someone you are a stay at home mom, your status on the current monetary value system is ranked at the bottom next to a big fat zero.

We use money to deem how vital someone is in the role they play in this world. So, because some moms choose to forego a paycheck and not pursue their own dreams and decide to stay at home and raise children, some people might view that woman as not being intelligent or capable of achieving much success.

And yet we are shaping the future generation of this world. We are raising the next leaders and contributors to society. We are saying that our children are more important than any amount of money or achievements anyone else could give us. We are teaching young hearts how to care, we are modeling to young eyes how to act, we are molding young minds how to think. We are giving everything we have and all that we will ever be to someone else. To see them succeed. To send them out in society knowing they are loved, important and have much to offer to this world.

The cost of being a stay at home mom cannot be calculated with money. In fact, nothing of real value or eternal value can be weighed in dollars or gold.

Jesus gave His life away to pay a ransom for us. And people thought He was foolish.

“Unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds. The man who loves his life will lose it, while the man who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life.”  John 12:24-25

Being a stay at home mom has a thousand deaths a day to die to myself. People might think I am foolish. But my choice of career will produce lives that will reap eternal rewards.

Next time someone asks me what I do, I will hold my head high and proudly announce, I am a stay at home Mom.