Getting A Little Political

I try not to get into politics on Facebook, but lately have been tempted.  I'm going to get a little political, but I think it is important for my boys to understand why I stayed home, and most importantly how we were able to make it happen.  After all, this blog is as much for them as it is for family and friends.  I know it's been a while since it was discussed, but I have to say I was quite offended by several comments made by Hilary Rosen.  When she said that Ann Romney had never worked a day in her life, and then her apology was somewhat more offensive to me when she said that it was because of wealth that Mrs. Romney was able to stay home with her children.  Here is why I found these two things offensive.  I stay at home all day with my kids.  I admire working moms, I just don't know how they get it all done.   Staying at home was a choice my husband discussed for years before even having kids.  We wanted to prepare ourselves emotionally and financially for what it meant.  In someways staying at home is the hardest thing I've done.  It is difficult to not have contact with other adults on a regular basis.  I crave adult conversation by the end of the day, something my husband is still trying to adjust to five years after I quit working.  Some nights I talk non stop until bedtime and others I don't say a word because I've spent the day entire day talking to the boys.  Honestly some days I think it would be easier to be a working mom.  My job is 24/7/365.  All mom's have this job description, stay at home moms never have the opportunity to leave their jobs.  All mom's are on call to put out fires, to run home at a moment's notice if something goes terribly wrong, but a stay at home mom doesn't get the commute to decompress, to have that regular time to themselves almost every day.  Don't get me wrong, I love what I do, but most stay at home moms don't sit around all day eating bon bons and watching soap operas.  This is the picture that came to mind when I first heard Hilary Rosen's comment about Ann Romney.  While I admit it was probably a mistake and a poor choice of words like she stated in her apology, I believe that you need to be extra careful and choose your words carefully, especially politicians.

The apology was even more offensive to me because it was a sacrifice for me to leave the work force to stay at home with my boys.  We took a financial hit when I left.  That's why we discussed things for a few years before I even tried to get pregnant.  We knew it would mean sacrifice.  We weren't the kind of people that spent our money foolishly to begin with.  We thought about everything we purchased and discussed it together.  As a rule most purchases over $50 are discussed with one another.  We don't buy each other extravagant gifts most of the time, occasionally we splurge.  We don't get completely new wardrobes every season of every year, we replace things as needed or if there's a great sale, until very recently I only owned one purse (the second was a gift).  We don't carry debt, this is something we work very hard to do.  We do without and save for the the things we need and want.  I know there are families that would love to have one parent home with their kids and aren't able to swing it financially, I get it, but to assume that every family with a stay at home parent is wealthy is naive.  There are plenty of families I know that make it work the same way we do.  Don't get me wrong, we have a nice things, but we tend to purchase things that give us the most bang for our buck.  I'm not judging those that choose otherwise.  I believe that everyone has the power to make their own decisions.  Just don't assume because a family has a stay at home parent that they are well off financially.

There are days like yesterday, when I felt like a workhorse.  Taking care of two sick kids, a sick dog and being sick myself is no easy task and all the while I worked, doing laundry, dishes, running errands, etc.  Being a stay at home mom can be a thankless job. It can be grueling work, but it has it's rewards as well.  Seeing my children grow up, happy and healthy is my reward.  The hugs and kisses and the smile and laughter are my payment for the work I do.  Hearing my oldest tell me I'm his "Best girl in the world", no amount of money can compare to that.  Even yesterday, the toughest of days had it's rewards.  Seeing my boys laughing and playing with one another (a rare event in this house), ganging up on their dog to trap her so they could pet her and love her (she pretends she hates it), and I realized that I am very rich, just not monetarily.