Both David and I have sacrificed a lot for me to be able to stay at home. The kids have all had to sacrifice “things” to have me at home. During the rough months I have questioned the decision for me to stay at home. I have often thought it a selfish decision and almost unfair on David.
I often think “if I go back to work maybe then we can buy more, do more, fix more”.
I often feel guilty when I have to tell the kids “it will have to wait until next month”
I do feel slightly envious of friends who get to go away regularly and eat out over weekends.
A peacefulness follows any decision, even the wrong one. ~Rita Mae Brown
But then there are moments where I realise that all the sacrifice is totally worth it.
Emma went to visit her gran today and Kiara only needed to be fetched at 15h00 so I had an hour to take Jack for lunch. We had such a great time. We chatted about his day, we shared his chips and then we did some shopping.
Half way through his story about drawing a picture with the blue crayon I had one of those 
moments!
I love that I get to take him out for lunch.
I love that I get to pick Kiara up and listen to her endless tales about her day.
I love that I get to meet friends for coffee during the week.
I love that I get to watch Cameron play soccer and swim.
I love that I can go with the kids to my mom for the holidays.
I love that I can now work from home, in my time with the flexibility to still be there for the kids.
We may not be the richest family on the block.
We may have really rubbish months.
We may all have to sacrifice things but they really are worth it because it is so true that “we don’t remember days, we remember moments.”
I am extremely grateful every day that I am able to experience moments like today with my kids. I have no doubt that it was the right decision for me and our family.
10 Responses
You’re an inspiration to me! Xxx
I worked during the time the kids were growing up and i know i missed out on so much, I was lucky enough to have flexi hours and work from home on occasion, but I still missed out on the big stuff, I’m now a SAH as you know and so wish I’d focused more on the kids when they were little, but my youngest is visiting me for his school holidays and although he’s a teenager now, sleeping till mid day (i let him) it’s great to have this quality time with him also.
Same! Same! Same! I do work from home for DH but I could earn more out the house. But I feel exactly like you do.
You did the right thing for your family
Your kids having u at home will always out way the nice things you could have – enjoy the lovely time you get to be with them they will have those memories for the rest of there lives
We all have to make certain sacrifices and even if others don’t agree with our choices and sometimes we think we made the wrong choice but there are moments we look back and realise we made the best choice for us given the circumstances. Sometimes I wish I could work more flexi hours to allow me spend more time with my child while she is still young enough but I know for our family right now it would be the worst of choices
Your life sounds amazing to me! I don’t think I’m cut out to be a full time stay at home mom, but it is my absolute desire to have the flexibility to do ALL THE THINGS with my kids, and still work a few hours a day. Also, we NEED to have two salaries in our house.
To an outsider looking in it looks like you have it made. Best of both worlds. But the fact is that every decision every family makes comes with a factor of sacrifice.
In our household it is that in order to pay off our house, cars etc quicker we both have to work and earn well – our sacrifice is that my nanny gets to see all the cute things my baby does and I cannot meet Kade or friends for lunch during week days and working hours.
It is what it is and as long as it works for YOUR family then so be it!
This post made me smile… 🙂
I don’t have that, but I’ve had to step off a couple of rungs on the corporate ladder for the flexibility that I do have. Totally worth it.
It is all worth it…that is for sure. You are making a huge investment into the lives of your children.