Not by Definition

Webster's Dictionary has a definiton for stay-at-home, it says that it is an adjective describing someone who habitually stays in their residence or country. I think if you put the word mom after the words stay-at-home most of us would not fit that definition. I often thought that the definition of a stay-at-home mom was someone who could live on their husband's income and therefore not have to work outside the home. The more moms I meet and longer I "stay home" I realize how wrong I was in my thinking. A stay-at-home mom is actually someone who does not want to put their child in daycare (or cannot afford it) and instead drags their child around town as they do "this and that" to make ends meet. Before I had Jonah I worked part time as a Children's Director at my church and continue to do that. Today Jonah watched a little too much Elmo as I helped rearrange our main office.

I have recently added another job to my schedule that has taken over my world for the past week. It involves a lot of what I do at my church just for a different church, on a different day and I'll be working with paid teachers instead of volunteers. I think that I've completed the hiring process today. All of that to say to that today is one of those days that I glady be a Webster's stay-at-home mom!

2 comments:

Claudia said...

Motherhood...quite the adventure, no matter how you slice it. When I was considering "staying home" with my kiddos, one of my mentors at work encouraged me to do it, and that she never regretted staying with her little ones because that time will never come again. Although there are certainly some days where I'm stretched and pulled and wondering why I do this....picking sandbox residue out of my hair and trying to maintain what little sanity I have left, YET I will never ever ever regret this precious time I've had with my girls these last 6 years being home with them.

Steph H. said...

Amen, to that! I work about 15 hours a week at our church. Though my oldest is in school all day, I take my younger one to a home day care, kept by a lady from our church. It's hard. It's not my favorite or what I want the most. We tried for 5 years for me to stay home an not work and it had just become too hard. At least I work for someone who cares for my kids almost as much as I do!