taking it to the man

i can't believe i am finally a stay at home mom!  since parker was born, i've known i wanted to stay home.  i wrote several posts about the stress of being a working mom, and i knew it was not best for me or my family.  however, i didn't want to make a rash, emotional decision and wanted to make sure financially we could afford it (another post to come on how we prepared financially for the change).

so why did i decide to stay home? 
*to make memories with my kids
*to be their primary teacher and influence
*to be a better mom
*to give my children my first and best energy of the day (instead of working for the first 9 hours and being tired/stressed out when i come home)
*to take my kids to the pool and park instead of having someone else text me photos of them enjoying the pool
*to teach them how to read
*to not be locked to a computer all day
*to cook more and eat more meals at home
*to hang out with other stay at home moms
*to workout
*to take care of myself
*to volunteer more
*to participate in a women's Bible study
*to spend time in the sun
*to give my husband a break from taking care of the kids so much by himself
*to enjoy life (it is so short!)

disclaimer: i fully understand that you can do most if not all of these things as a working mom.  some people are better parents when they are working and i completely respect and admire that.  others work to provide for their families and i respect that so much, too.  for me, i was trying to work and do everything and was not doing anything well.

i know that staying at home is not easy, but after 2 months, i could not be any happier with my choice. i've been called by recruiters asking when i want to go back to work, and my answer is that i am loving life right now and have no desire to go back to work any time soon.  here's to reading books, building forts and spending lots of quality time together as a family!!