{Pro's and Con's of being a SAHM}

This isn't your {average] "Mondays are for Melody" post. I'm switching it up a tad but it has to deal with the choice the hubs and I made for me to start staying home with Mel.   I'm going to talk to you about being a stay at home mom. First, let me make this **disclaimer**...there are {some} mothers who cannot be a stay at home mom and that is okay. There are some that would rather work than stay home and to them that is okay. This is my personal reasoning for staying at home.   And if you are a fan of Hilary Rosen (the woman who accused Ann Romney of never working a day in her life) then you probably won't enjoy the post so feel free to click the "x" button now.   Let's start this off with a fun little picture, shall we?

  So let's get to it...   1.) Staying at home requires balance and much communication between the husband and the wife. Wife, when you take on the role of staying home, you realize that is your new job. When you get off work at 5:00, you're home and it's time to take care of the baby. You cannot pawn the baby off to your husband just because you've been changing diapers all day. He has been working all day too. Husband, know there is balance and recognize that your wife has been changing diapers all day...a 5 minute break of watching baby is like an hour lunch break at your job. Help her out. And communicate.  - Recognize when the house is clean.  - Thank her when your sock drawer is loaded up.   2.) When I quit my old marketing job, I was so excited for the following reasons: My house would always be clean. Dinner would be ready for my husband every single night. Laundry would no longer be put on the back burner. I'd wake my daughter up and we'd go for a long walk around the neighborhood.   And this is where all your SAHM's laugh...because it's not always like that, right? When your baby is cutting 4 teeth and has an infection then your house doesn't get TOUCHED, you end up ordering pizza because you couldn't cook, laundry was put on the back burner, and instead of the long walk around the neighborhood you are holding a crying baby all day...

    3.) Let's talk finances...because after all, when you start staying home you no longer contribute to income... Depending on the income of your husband, you might need to make some small/medium/or large changes financially...this means you can't just wake up and take trips to Hobby Lobby every week to start a new craft around the house... You might need to come up with a tighter budget... But let me say this: you adjust!!   In fact {personal quick testimony} when I started staying home, the hubs and I realized we spent $600.00 a month eating out and buying coffee from the local coffee shop. Simply going through a bank statement can save you a lot of money [and can possibly make you sick when you realize the amount of money you've been wasting]... Josh and I have actually paid off more debt than we have since we've been married and we are having a house built and will be in the house all within a year of me staying at home. Glory goes to God folks! We simply just kept tithing and we are more aware of our spending!   And now, onto the {main reason} of why I started staying home: It has been statistically proven that the most crucial time in a childs life is ages 0-5 y/o. It's when they absorb knowledge the easiest. This was the determining factor for my husband and I.   We put that statistic with the scripture that we are to train our children in the way they should go so when they're older they will not depart from it...   You see, we figured out it was our job to train our children in their most crucial years of learning. It's not daycare's job...and in our case, Josh's mom would be watching Melody (and in most cases if a parent can't be home, I believe a grandparent is 2nd best) but even at that, it wasn't her responsibilty to train Melody. Oh yes, she would have done a spectacular job, but in the end it's Josh and I who are responsible for the way Melody is trained. How could I train her properly by being gone most of the day? In our personal schedule, we would have picked Melody up at about 6:00pm and her bed time is always 8:30....2.5 hours a night (excluding weekends) was not enough time in our eyes. Of course I was giddy about ME being the one who gets to be there when she wakes up. Of course I was excited to be able to spend all day with my daughter and watch her grow and learn. But these "feel good" reasons were not ultimately my reason for staying home.   I hope this has helped anyone who has been debating whether or not they should stay home. Or maybe you haven't realized a few things that you now recognize just by simply reading another persons view on staying home.   I simply will not bash the people who bash us Stay at home moms...and if you're naive and think it doesn't happen, just simply google "stay at home moms" and you'll see tons of articles on the negative... Like I said, I will not bash you, but I would like to say this to you: Please do not condemn the choices my family has prayed about and decided on just because you think I sit around all day and blog...or shop...or bake...or sleep... It's personal with us. It's important that our kids are trained properly in this day and by golly, I'm gonna give it my all (which means cutting out an income) to make sure my kids are trained properly. Because on judgement day, it's my husband and I that will be held accountable for the way we trained them up...not you and not their grandparents...not daycare and not the government.   I will do everything in my power to hear "Well done my good and faithful servant..." (and if you're wondering why I used the word "trained" vs. "raised" it's because that's the word the Bible uses...and I once heard a preacher say "you raise cattle, you train children..." and it hasn't left me since...)