Stay At Home Or Go To Work?
Is this you? Tell me about it.
Are you a stay at home mom or a working mom? How do you feel about it? How do you REALLY feel about it? I’m just curious about the various points of views that are out there. I am currently a stay at home mom, but every now and then I get an itch to get back in the workforce. I understand I’m doing an important job right now, but I still find myself dreaming of the day when I’ll be able to get up and go to work every morning and even better, get paid for it! The one-income family thing definitely starts to get old after four years.
My biggest (and sometimes exaggerated) fear is that whoever I choose as caregiver for my kids, whether it be a daycare or nanny, will not give them the love and attention that they get from me. I can really freak myself out if I start thinking about worse case scenarios. Especially for Saioa, because she’s still so young and can’t communicate to me if someone is being neglectful or abusive towards her. I’ve read that Shaken Baby Syndrome doesn’t always result in death or brain damage. Someone could shake your baby and it could result in developmental delays or frequent ear infections…and you would never know.
But, I also know a lot of great caregivers who treat the kids they look after as their own. One of my good friends is the lead teacher for the Mother’s Morning Out program at Serophina’s preschool and all of her kids absolutely love her! She’s so gentle and loving, any parent could leave their kids with her and be confident that they were in good hands. I can see how this would even be advantageous to a child, being around someone other than his or her parents.
In a perfect world, our society would understand, embrace and support the idea of not separating babies from their mothers because they have to go back to work. There’s got to be a better way, a more balanced way…. I just don’t know what it is yet.
I’ve put on my objective ears and would like to know why what you’ve chosen works best for you. Or maybe it doesn’t? Tell me why?
