10 Best Nike Jordan Shoes

Best Nike Jordan Shoes in 2023

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The Heart of a Stay at Home Mom

How does a career woman make the switch from nine to five in heels and pearls to sweats and sneakers in a station wagon? Here is one woman's story of the pull of heartstrings that drew her away from a promising to career and into a stay at home role.

In my head, I pictured three whole months as plenty of time to get to know my little one, then I could put him or her in a terrific daycare when I went back to work. Never did I entertain the option of staying home. After all, I had seen those moms. You know the ones, those women in the grocery store with the ever present look of resignation on their faces? To become that woman who has one child scampering down the aisles pulling candy off the shelves, and a baby in the cart alternating between wailing at the top of their lungs and rubbing something sticky on their head was absolutely something I did not aspire to.

My own mother told me that I needed to think about staying home. She mentioned dozens of times that I was going to change my mind once the baby was born, and should at least talk to my husband about budgeting to see if we could make it work. Nope. I knew what I wanted, and staying at home was not it. Mix up some hormones and a little bit if spoiled brat attitude, and I will admit that some of my phone conversations with my mother were less than pleasant as I neared my due date.

Well, Mom, you were right. Nothing in the world could have prepared me when the love I felt for my child hit me with the force of a Mack truck. When Sophia was born after 44 hours of hard labor, I looked into her perfect little face, this fragile baby that trusted me to keep her safe, then turned to my husband and said, "I'm not going back to work. I can't leave her." I could not even entertain the idea of leaving her in the care of another person while I flitted off to my fancy office.

Without planning, budgeting, and preparation for staying at home, my husband and I had 12 weeks of paid leave to figure out how to make it happen. In an instant, we lost half of our take home pay.

I had to learn to cut costs, prioritize household needs, and get really creative in order to stay at home with my daughter. We could no longer just decide to take a weekend trip and rent a cabin on the beach. If I needed a new piece of furniture or small appliance, I had to pinch pennies from our meager household allowance until I saved up for it.

And forget about all this time I thought I would have when I was at home 24/7. I do not know how a child that weighs less than your average terrier can generate three loads of laundry a day, but they do. My hat comes off to June Cleaver, because during the early months of stay at home motherhood, I was lucky if I got a shower!

Sophie and I got into a rhythm, though, and worked out a schedule for household chores, errands and play dates. I was there for her first tentative crawl, step, and word. I was there for it all. We had this routine that worked so well for us. Just about the time we really got into our groove, along came baby sister, Stephanie and another learning curve.

Four and a half years after I made the decision to leave behind a steady paycheck in lieu of the crazy world of stay at home motherhood, I look in the mirror some days and see one of "those" women. Just this morning, I pushed a grocery cart alongside my eldest daughter, who danced in the aisles begging for a treat, as my youngest rubbed a red lollipop all over her Tinkerbell costume from last year in between wailing over being stuck in the cart.

I noticed with humor the looks I received from some of the other shoppers as we slowly made our way down the list of household necessities. Many women gave me a "been there, done that" smirk, while the twenty-something career girls stepped away as if I had something that might be catching.

This is my life. I have traded in the designer tops and 3-inch pumps for track pants and flip flops. I might have had time to fix my hair, or not. My children could be wearing an assortment of clothes from their dress up box as we run errands. Instead of a trip to the theater, we rent a family movie and have popcorn on our living room floor.

While giving up my career also meant giving up my paycheck, it is not without rewards. When my daughters are grown, I know they are not going to remember that they did not always have the newest, fanciest, brand new gadget. They are going to remember that I was there, every day. They will know that I was the first face they saw every morning, the one who held them tight when they scraped their knees, and the always captive audience for their fashion shows or latest trick.

I could not put a price tag on these hours. The day will come when my daughters stop making me their first choice in a playmate. It will not be long before they are off to school, and I am free to go back to work, to pursue other interests. These are the memories that I will remember, the stories I will tell their children.

I would not miss this for anything.