Stay-at-Home Parents

» jcredmond - Nuturing

What an interesting take on the Andrea Yates case. I had never thought of it in that way.

Just because we are physically capable of having a child every year doesn't mean that it would be a good idea for us to do so. We like to think of our grandmothers doing everything and never breaking a sweat (or shedding a tear, for that matter) but I'm sure that was not the case. Previous generations had more than one generation living under the same roof and likely more relatives living close by who were able to help out. Now families don't necessarily live close to each other to give that support.

It also doesn't help that we are constantly bombarded with messages from celebrity moms that they do it all and always look great doing it. No one can do it all - it's impossible.

How would you like a job where you are expected to be on call 24/7, no vacation time or breaks, sometimes little or no sleep at night? A lot of the time I don't even have the luxury of using the washroom by myself! If you're thinking that "You couldn't pay me enough to do all that", you're right. You can't. I do it all for the love of my children. They're absolutely worth it.

But it's a challenge to carve out some time for me to nuture myself. You have to make taking breaks a priority or you will absolutely burn out. You also have to take it one day at a time.

Until I read the article, I didn't know that Andrea Yates was a former nurse and valedictorian. Unfortunately, anything else she was is forever overshadowed by the events of that terrible day.

-- posted by jcredmond

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» melissac64 - Nuturing

I LOVE when you join one of my discussions-jcredmond!! You always have such insightful things to articulate and share about your personal experience. I know, I had no idea that Andrea Yates was a valedictorian and nurse until I actually looked beyond the media’s sensationalizing over the fact that she drowned her kids, and actually attempted to find out a little more about who she was as a person, irrespective of her role as a stay-at-home Mom, and ultimate murderer.

I think a lot of us stay-at-home Moms, myself included, forget that we are women with our own individual adult needs and we really have to try and take that into account every day of our lives. I absolutely agree that it is really hard to find a way to carve out some time for yourself and I love how honest you are about that. I think a lot of us stay-at-home Moms feel that we are actually being selfish by even admitting that maybe we’d like a little time for ourselves. But your description of a stay-at-home Mom’s job as being, "a job where you are expected to be on call 24/7, no vacation time or breaks, sometimes little or no sleep at night?" is just proof that being a stay-at-home Mom is so hard that we really do owe it to ourselves to begin to nurture our inner lives and spirits in small ways. Thanks for posting!!!

-- posted by melissac64

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» martyne - Nuturing

In response to Nuturing posted by melissac64:
As SAHM's we all need to give ourselves 5 minutes a day to look in the mirror and be PROUD of who you are no matter how hard the day may be ahead of you. All it takes is 5 minutes to breathe deep and smile. It takes LESS wrinkles to smile then to frown............

-- posted by martyne

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