Posted in Parenting
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It drives me crazy when a wife and mother will say, “Oh, I wish I could stay home with my children but I have to work.” Unless you are a single mother …
Staying home and raising your kids is a choice! Either you choose: to have 2 cars, a surround sound, new TVs, a wall of DVDs and CDs, a kitchen remodeled, name brand clothes, car stereo upgrades, cell phones, cable TV, computers, high speed internet connection, a cushion in your bank account, or any number of other things… OR You choose to stay home and raise your children. It is THAT simple. When moms complain that they “can’t” stay home, it drives me crazy! That is just an excuse for your choice. OWN up to it – you are choosing to put your material wealth and comfort above your task of raising your children. There may be a season where a mom might have to work … perhaps you have gotten yourself in deep debt and are trying to claw your way out… okay- so suck it up! Have a yard sale to get rid of any of the “comforts” in your life, cut off the cable, sell the second car …. and work for a short season if you truly need to… and then hurry back to the job of raising your children. We chose to be a one income family and we chose for me to stay home with the kids (and then HS them). I chose…. reading aloud on the couch, cuddles and movies on a wet day, time for games and afternoon baking, tea time, walks, talks, repeating instructions (over and over =0), hopes, dreams, fears, pictures, play dates, lessons, time with my kids to be there, listen to them and raise them the best that I could. Which means we also chose: Top Raman quiet frequently. One car for most of our lives. For me not to have a cell phone. No cable TV in our house. Our computer has (traditionally) been old and slow with (EEK!) dialup ~ and the first one was a gift, before that it was hauling ourselves to the library to use the internet. We chose less toys for the kids and ourselves. No manicures and cheap haircuts with home dye jobs. Paul sold his plasma twice a week for a while for extra money and then he has done the second job for two respiratory agencies working most weekends. Paul has had to watch younger junior enlisted folks with cool cars, great stereos and huge CD collections heading out to a great dinner with friends and then to a concert …. and he chose to come home and be with us… eating a meal of pinto beans and corn bread…. and watching the kids play in the backyard. So, it REALLY irks me when someone says “Oh, I wish I could have done that, but I just had to work.” You could have! You chose not to! Own up to your choice and don’t negate our choice and sacrifice by implying that it was easy for us to go without- but you never could have done it. (as if we didn’t want nice things and new stuff and I really enjoyed Top Raman ) The choice is there – material possessions that break down and get tossed out—or a family that does --- |
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Posted by Melissa
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