Amazon Baby Babble's Blog

My husband and I made the decision for me to be a stay at home mom almost 9 years ago. I have never looked back. You might think hmmm did she have a career??? Yes and I had just been accepted into the part time Eller School of Business Graduate program at the University of Arizona. The first years were a struggle with finances, but you have to realize you don't really NEED some things. We had to decide what would be best for our children. For me to raise them or let someone else raise our children. That was the main reason we were willing to go without some unimportant things and still are (even though are finances have increased). Prayer solidified the decision and still does. Hope this helps someone. Nine years later I would not change that decision...now I homeshool too.

i have been a stay at home mom for 23 years. the last is in highschool now but i still think it is important to be home when she gets home. We just made it work and went without things till we could afford them. we saved money by me doing the cleaning and cooking at home instead of going out much. My daughter did a speech in school about how great it was to always know that mom was there. I will never forget it and have never regretted my decision. i left a job in nursing which i loved but this was way better!!

The main problem I see for stay-at-home moms is what happens when divorce strikes, as it does with about half of marriages. I would never want to be completely out of the workforce very long!

You are so right.

I'm a SAHM, and don't regret the decision a bit. However, now that my youngest is in school and I'm looking for a part time job during school hours, its very hard to find balance. Basically, starting from scratch means bottom of the barrel, any hour, they own you jobs. And my kids will and do come first. If dh were no longer providing, for any reason, I don't know what we'd do.

With some history and a career, perhaps more options would be available.

[Deleted by the author on Dec 8, 2007 5:43 PM PST]

I have been a SAHM since my oldest was born over eight years ago. We now have three beautiful children, ages 8, 7, and 4. It was an easy decision to make for me and my husband. We just decided that material things were not as important as our children, and we have done well, although we haven't collected as much "stuff" as our friends. We were both college graduates, and struggled to find our careers. My husband was making next-to-nothing when I quit my job to be a full-time mom. We have definitely had financial struggles - making poor financial decisions, unexpected unemployment, and near bankruptcy. I have gone back to work part-time and full-time a few times in the last five years. After my last attempt to work full-time, I had to make the decision to be a SAHM for good, because my 7-year-old (in Kindergarten last year) was diagnosed with Asperger's Syndrome (an autism spectrum disorder).