Our children are forever changing. As a parent to two little humans, I’m realizing how precious my time with them is and how much I truly appreciate it.
It has been one year now since I decided to leave my corporate job to peruse something so much more meaningful to me. Something that would fulfill me in a way I have never experienced before. I was going to be a stay at home mom.
As scary as that sounded at the time, my gut was telling me to go all in. Looking back, I wish I could have enjoyed the first few months more. Instead I had moments of self-doubt and a lot of convincing myself that I was doing this for the right reasons. As many times as I had gone over it in my head, making the change for real was still extremely difficult.
My children mean so much to me and to spend more time raising and shaping them was exactly what I wanted to do at this point in my life. For as long as I could remember I was a career driven young woman. I wanted to climb the ladder and be at the top one day. The more I sat in my cubicle, the more I realized it was time I was my own boss. It was time to make a big change. One that not only fulfilled my own desires, but one that uplifted my family and would have a huge impact on my children’s lives.
Like I had mentioned before, the first few months took some adjusting, but now that I feel like I’m more in a groove and not riding a big hormonal wave, (I had just had my second baby at the time) I can see things a little more clearly. I’ve allowed myself to follow my desire to spend more time with my children, while still giving myself the opportunity to be passionate about operating and owning my own business. I’m still fine tuning the coordination between the two, but that’s a whole other topic!
Staying home with my children has allowed us to share a deeper bond with one another and has given myself a feeling of worth. Although this job may be one of the hardest jobs I’ve ever had, and there is no paycheck attached to it, boy do I appreciate and love it so much!
Don’t get me wrong, there are days my husband leaves for work and I think, “Hmm I am a little jealous of him right now. He gets to shower everyday, dress up, go out to lunch and be around adults all day long!” Then I remember just how exhausting that can be everyday. I realize there is extra stress now on him to support his family. I don’t miss that.
I never thought taking care of kiddos full time would be easy, but I also never gave enough credit to stay at home moms.
This. Is. Hard. Work. There are no breaks, no sick days, no time off. It’s a 24-7 deal, but the reward at the end of the day is far better than any achievement I’ve ever received at work.
The more I started to dissect my life, I realized that this was the part that had been missing for so long. The part of me that needed to grow and shape these kids, the part that longed to raise children the best way I knew how. This is time that will never be given back to me. It is time I will forever cherish, and it is something I will never regret!
I’m excited to see what this next year will bring on this journey. I’ve had so much fun taking the time to reflect back on this past year, the changes we have made as a family and all the change I’ve seen in my two little ones. A year for them makes a huge difference! They are growing, learning and loving everyday and it makes my heart so happy to have a front row seat to that show!
