Stay-At-Home Mom's

Let's be real here. Stay at home mom's get a bad rep sometimes. People tend to think we don't have "real jobs". Why? Because we don't "work". Excuse me? We don't work? I'm calling bull. Our daily lives are full of work. We cook, we clean, we have tiny bosses that require every ounce of our attention, who throw tantrums, throw food, get upset and throw more tantrums if we give them the wrong color cup, or plate, or they don't like the clothes we put on them. We don’t get breaks. Nap time? Cleaning. Bed time? More cleaning and maybe a shower, if you’re lucky. The cold, hard truth about being a stay at home mom is: it’s a 24/7 365 job. We just don’t get paid with cash. We get paid with love, kisses, hugs, tantrums, and the likes.

We go to bed late and get up early. We are nurses/doctors, maids, chauffeurs, cooks, you name it. We have a thousand different jobs, but we are only one person. Stay at home moms get shamed for expressing our exhaustion, or expressing our feelings about feeling tired, alone, depressed, or anything negative. We’re look at like we are terrible mothers if we feeling anything but 100 percent happy all day, every day. Well, I’m here to tell you, you don’t have to feel happy ALL the time. You don’t have to have sunshine and rainbows coming out your rear every single second of every single day. It’s absolutely okay to want a break, or to have to take a minute to gather yourself or cry or scream. It is okay. It doesn’t make you a bad mother in any sense of the term. It makes you human. It makes you normal.

It’s okay to shove your kid in front of the TV for an hour so you can clean, cook, shower, whatever it is you need to do. I promise, it doesn’t make you bad, or terrible.

It’s okay to feel like you’re losing your cool. Take a breath, breathe, calm down, and come back to it.

It’s okay to ask for help. It’s okay to feel overwhelmed.

It’s okay to ship your kid off to grandma’s house for one day so you can have a day to yourself. Whether that be getting your nails done, getting your hair done, or just catching up on some z’s.

Society doesn’t speak on the negative effects that come along with being a SAHM. We tend to lose a sense of self. We lose our identity and get so wrapped up in being mom’s to our little’s, we don’t really know who we are anymore. We don’t know what we enjoy.

It’s reported that 28% of SAHM’s struggle with depression. If you’re experiencing any signs of depression (loss of interests, increased fatigue, sleep problems, irritability, changes in appetite, weight loss, feeling hopeless), please seek professional help. You are not alone, you are not a terrible parent. Take care of yourself so you can better take care of your kid(s). We all struggle with this. We all need a break sometimes. We all need help sometimes. And it is perfectly okay to seek help. Don’t wait it out, don’t struggle through it. It doesn’t mean you love your child(ren) any less if you struggle.