Momma's Home
A discussion about stay-at-home parenting

Deciding to become a stay-at-home mom was never a difficult decision-making process for me. Really, it was never any question in my mind; I just knew I would be a SAHM when my child was born. I knew this as naturally as I knew I would breastfeed my baby.

It certainly wasn't an overflow of money that made the stay-at-home mom decision easy for me. The way I see it, it could only have been a deep faith that gave me confidence that this was just what I was supposed to do and that it would work out precisely as God had designed it to.

Ten years later, I'm still "blending my two favorite things" -- the words I told a newspaper reporter who interviewed me back in 2002 about my roles as a stay-at-home mother and freelance writer. In that interview, I said: "My decision to be a stay-at-home mother was one that came quite naturally for me...........I have learned that a strong desire to perform this unique job, combined with patience, creativity and flexibility, can make stay-at-home parenting as exciting and meaningful as those jobs typically believed to be the most rewarding."

Cynthia, a mother who recently read and enjoyed my stay-at-home mom journal, shared her thoughts with me about stay-at-home parenting. She said:

"I am an at-home mother who is discouraged by the bad press we've been getting lately. So many people are saying that it doesn’t matter whether or not a mom works outside the home. Well, I need to be there for my kids way more than working full-time will allow. They don’t understand many of the benefits. As one who has done both, I know it does matter! My kids and I have both benefited. I hope the media stops its negative portrayals of at-home moms and starts seeing us for who we really are -- committed to our jobs and willing to take full responsibility. This is a job we don't want to delegate."

What are your thoughts? Please post them here.

It'll be fun! Waiting to hear from you...

In Motherhood,

Penny