Life as a Mom Essay

Although the media depict most women as housewives and stay-at-home mothers, in reality many women work full time and put their children in daycare. Stay at home moms and working moms have their own advantages and disadvantages. However, a stay at home mom is able to give greater attention to the family while working moms are able to provide financial stability although they are not able to assure greater care to their children. I experienced both, being at home and working outside the home. I personally believe having my husband and me working has made my family happier. According to a recent study by the American Psychological Association of over 1,300 moms the happiest moms are, perhaps unsurprisingly, those who work part-time (Bindley 1). Comparing and contrasting being a stay at home mom vs. a working mom along with the modern economic and social reality has led to the emergence of various social changes and one such social change is the emergences of two kinds of mothers namely stay at home mothers and working mothers (Bindley 1). In this essay, an attempt is made to study the similarities and differences between the working mothers and stay at home mothers; also the term `stay at home moms ‘ refers to those mothers who do not work outside their homes. They prefer to stay at home. This is due to their care for their children and family, also these stay at home moms before they became mothers were working women. Gradually there is transition of working women to becoming stay at home moms. However, after they became mothers, it was very difficult to manage both house and work. Consequently, they decide to quit their jobs and stayed at home for the sake of their family. Leaving the financial stress on their husbands. Stay at home moms usually enjoy their status as being house wives and do not crib at the fact that they are staying at home. The children of such stay at home moms are also happy that their mom is staying with them. In the modern society this is a very difficult decision for the mother to leave her job as it put stress on families financially. Thus only when single income parents could manage with their limited income, the mothers could leave their jobs. Currently there are many work at home jobs which are tailor made to serve the stay at home moms so that they also could obtain extra income and they could make use of their spare time. These jobs are usually telecommuting in nature which means that mothers are not expected to go their work place (Bindley 1). As for why they might be happier, the authors theorized, â€Å"a mother’s participation in employment provides her with support and resources that a mother who spends full time at home does not receive.† (Bindley 1) The main advantage with stay at home moms is that they are able to take perfect care of their family. The main disadvantage with this system is that such families need to depend on single income which then can put a lot of strain on a relationship between husband and wife. As I grew up my mom was a single parent, until I turned 13 when she met my step-father Grant. She worked, went to nursing school full time, and still managed to find time to make it to all of my sporting games. She also was gone a lot too. This then made me have to raise myself a little bit. My mom never let me go without; I always had what I needed when I needed it. I always said that when I was a parent someday, that I would make sure I could provide for them like she did for me. â€Å"There is nothing I would change about how I did things when you were a child; I made sure you had everything you needed.† (Shumaker) â€Å"Things did get much easier when I met Grant and we put our finances together.† (Shumaker). Now as an adult not only do I make sure my children are taken care of day and night, I also attend school, work part-time, and I find time to spend with my husband. Having a husband is such a big help. Not only for our family financially, but also for my children to have a father, and he helps do things for them when I’m not able to. I was a stay at home mom at one point in my life with our oldest daughter when she was a newborn. It was nice, although I felt like I had no adult interaction. I feel that interaction with other adults is critical to say â€Å"sane†. I never felt pretty because I was always wearing sweatpants, and no make-up. Even if I went out to do grocery shopping and run errands it wasn’t enough adult interaction. Because my husband worked all day he wanted to get things done around the house, and I wanted him to watch the kids so I could go do something by myself. We also didn’t have enough money to do anything, he solely paid the bills. That put a lot of stress on our relationship. I would want to go out to dinner, but we didn’t have the extra money. I realized quickly how much more important it was to work. I know that being there for my children is priority. However, interacting with other adults is also very important. Now that I work and my husband works we have enough money to do fun things with our children when we are not working. We bought a brand new camper to take them camping. It also gives us enough money to go out by ourselves and hire a babysitter for the night. Our lives are much more enjoyable for our children, my husband, and me. Having me work instead of staying at home. I still find time to make healthy dinners, and take care of our children. It has made my marriage stronger and it has made me feel better about myself because I contribute to our bills.