I have been a Stay At Home Mom (SAHM) for almost 13 years...in fact, I stopped working about a week before Sierra was born and in about a week she turns 13, so let's just say I have been a SAHM for 13 years. It has been the most rewarding part of my life and I wouldn't have it any other way.
However, I have had to deal with a lot of speculation from others as I have chosen the life of a SAHM and than, later, as a Homeschooler. It is amazing how many people have this view what we, in this profession, do on a daily basis.
Now, I cannot speak for other SAHMs, but I know for me, if I was anything like the world view of a SAHM was, I would slowly pull my hair out, go into a corner, suck my thumb and have a breakdown. Soap operas are not my thing. I love chocolate, though I do not think I have ever had a bon bon....but any chocolate eating I do is done on the go. Talk shows are so boring and I simply cannot STAND Oprah Winfrey. I wish I had time to sit....I would love to curl up on the couch with a good book everyday...I wish I had time to nap.
As a SAHM, I tend to socialize in SAHM circles. I know several women who have chosen to stay home with their kids instead of going to work in the work force. Not a one of them is a bon bon eating, Oprah watching, living the high/lazy life woman. Talk about a job that taxes you mentally, physically, and emotionally. This is no 40 hour per week job. There is no one looking over your shoulder (which is good). There are no promotions, bonuses (unless you count hugs and kisses...which I do). Vacation time is spent on the job. It never ends...even when you get away for a few hours or even a weekend, it is still a part of you and though you are not physically there, you are there in every other way.
One of the things that would annoy me was a friend of mine would text and call from her job expecting me to have all the time in the world to look something up for her...to research things like hair styles for her or figure out traffic or whatever and I would be in the middle of doing whatever it was I needed to do at home or out of the home. She would say, "you're the only one I know who isn't doing anything". Really?? Is that how people "on the outside" view us? Are we just not doing anything?
Honestly, when Sierra was young, like newborn status, I became that hypersensitive mom who didn't want her baby exposed to germs, sunlight, dust, pollen, bugs, etc. So, I DID become that soap opera, couch sitting mama for a few months. No one I knew was a mom...I was the first in my group of friends to have a baby. While I was at home, all of my friends were working. I became very involved in Nikki and Victor's lives (Young and the Restless), Bo and Hope (Days of Our Lives), in the relational issues of shows like Rikki Lake. But, one day I opened a door and let the sunlight come in and my baby didn't shrivel up. I decided to venture forth into the world as a mother with a baby and I discovered a whole new world laying in wait for us. My eyes were opened and life was forever changed into a flurry of activity for mom and baby. With a new baby, 5 1/2 years later, life became busier and fuller.
Now, as a homeschooler, I have a new flurry of speculation. We are unsocialized home bodies where education rules our world and is contained in the walls of our home. Sometimes I wish this were partly true, though honestly I am loving the exact opposite. Life has become more of a flurry of activity than ever before. We do spend time at home doing the majority of school work, but often school takes us out of the home...whether it be for field trips or social activities or whatever, we are constantly on the go. Life has become a classroom and school never ends.
But, that same friend from before assumes that I have even more time on my hands now. She calls and texts and asks me to look something up...I can't, I am out doing things. Later, have you done it yet? No, I am still not home. When I am together with my fellow homeschool educators, a primary topic of conversation is the pure exhaustion we each have as we try to fit it all in everyday. When you open your classroom up to the world, you find yourself open and willing to experience it more and more. And than you fit in the daily activities and by 10 o'clock at night, you collapse in bed with satisfaction....knowing that your day is complete....without a bon bon passing your lips or your brain cells being killed slowly by bad television programming.
However, I have had to deal with a lot of speculation from others as I have chosen the life of a SAHM and than, later, as a Homeschooler. It is amazing how many people have this view what we, in this profession, do on a daily basis.
Now, I cannot speak for other SAHMs, but I know for me, if I was anything like the world view of a SAHM was, I would slowly pull my hair out, go into a corner, suck my thumb and have a breakdown. Soap operas are not my thing. I love chocolate, though I do not think I have ever had a bon bon....but any chocolate eating I do is done on the go. Talk shows are so boring and I simply cannot STAND Oprah Winfrey. I wish I had time to sit....I would love to curl up on the couch with a good book everyday...I wish I had time to nap.
As a SAHM, I tend to socialize in SAHM circles. I know several women who have chosen to stay home with their kids instead of going to work in the work force. Not a one of them is a bon bon eating, Oprah watching, living the high/lazy life woman. Talk about a job that taxes you mentally, physically, and emotionally. This is no 40 hour per week job. There is no one looking over your shoulder (which is good). There are no promotions, bonuses (unless you count hugs and kisses...which I do). Vacation time is spent on the job. It never ends...even when you get away for a few hours or even a weekend, it is still a part of you and though you are not physically there, you are there in every other way.
One of the things that would annoy me was a friend of mine would text and call from her job expecting me to have all the time in the world to look something up for her...to research things like hair styles for her or figure out traffic or whatever and I would be in the middle of doing whatever it was I needed to do at home or out of the home. She would say, "you're the only one I know who isn't doing anything". Really?? Is that how people "on the outside" view us? Are we just not doing anything?
Honestly, when Sierra was young, like newborn status, I became that hypersensitive mom who didn't want her baby exposed to germs, sunlight, dust, pollen, bugs, etc. So, I DID become that soap opera, couch sitting mama for a few months. No one I knew was a mom...I was the first in my group of friends to have a baby. While I was at home, all of my friends were working. I became very involved in Nikki and Victor's lives (Young and the Restless), Bo and Hope (Days of Our Lives), in the relational issues of shows like Rikki Lake. But, one day I opened a door and let the sunlight come in and my baby didn't shrivel up. I decided to venture forth into the world as a mother with a baby and I discovered a whole new world laying in wait for us. My eyes were opened and life was forever changed into a flurry of activity for mom and baby. With a new baby, 5 1/2 years later, life became busier and fuller.
Now, as a homeschooler, I have a new flurry of speculation. We are unsocialized home bodies where education rules our world and is contained in the walls of our home. Sometimes I wish this were partly true, though honestly I am loving the exact opposite. Life has become more of a flurry of activity than ever before. We do spend time at home doing the majority of school work, but often school takes us out of the home...whether it be for field trips or social activities or whatever, we are constantly on the go. Life has become a classroom and school never ends.
But, that same friend from before assumes that I have even more time on my hands now. She calls and texts and asks me to look something up...I can't, I am out doing things. Later, have you done it yet? No, I am still not home. When I am together with my fellow homeschool educators, a primary topic of conversation is the pure exhaustion we each have as we try to fit it all in everyday. When you open your classroom up to the world, you find yourself open and willing to experience it more and more. And than you fit in the daily activities and by 10 o'clock at night, you collapse in bed with satisfaction....knowing that your day is complete....without a bon bon passing your lips or your brain cells being killed slowly by bad television programming.
RSS Feed