June Blogging Challege Day 8: Would You Be A Stay At Home Mom?

Day 8 of the June Blogging Challenge: Given the option, would you be a stay at home mom (SAHM)?

Just like my labor post, these are just my opinions. I'm in no way shape or form looking down on anyone who doesn't share the same ideas as me.

Given the option, I probably would be a stay at home mom. When I was younger I always thought I would be. My mom was a SAHM for a long time; I don't think she went back to work until I was about 10 or so. I don't really remember a lot from that time, but there are pictures of her and I doing a lot of activities which is something I'd love to do with my children.

I'm a big supporter of supplementing a child's education at home. When I went to kindergarten, I could already read, thanks to my parents. I actually got in trouble with my kindergarten teacher because I would get my work done faster than anyone else and she wouldn't have anything for me to do. I love the idea of taking my kids to a museum, aquarium or the zoo during the week and having them learn before they start school.

I also love the idea of building memories and relationships with your child those first five or so years before they're off to school. I feel like those years would go so quickly, and once kids are in school, they're so busy with friends and extra activities that it's hard to have quality time with them. Of course I know that being a stay at home mom is difficult, I'm not expecting it to be all rainbows and unicorn farts. I read enough mommy blogs to know that some days you just want to put your child out back with the dog and grab a glass of wine (or something stronger.)

If we stay where we are, one of the biggest reasons I want to stay at home is the childcare in Mississippi is the worst I've ever seen. We're originally from Missouri, and the preschools in my hometown were excellent. Of course, some were better than others, but overall, they were amazing. My mom has worked at a few of them, and has even run one, so I know which ones are quality. If we were living back home, I wouldn't think twice about leaving my child in a preschool. However, there have been quite a few horror stories that I've heard since we've moved here.

One that really stands out to me is a woman who worked in a church run daycare gave a seven month old and a five month old the muscle relaxer Tizanidine to keep them quiet. This daycare was supposedly the best in the city (this isn't the city I live in, but once close to me.) What really annoys me is the worst that'll happen to her is that she'll get fined $1000 and/or 1 year in jail. For drugging helpless children. Overall, the education system in Mississippi is horrible compared to what Keegan and I are used to in Missouri, but that's another post.

My only worry about being a stay at home mom is my children might not get as much social interaction as they would if they were in preschool or daycare. When I was younger, I was painfully shy. My mom loves to tell the story that she would take me to playgroups just so she could have adult interaction, I would never actually play with the other kids. I know that it would be my job to take my kids to things like playgroups and story time at the library so that they could have interactions with children their age.

So, overall, I'd love to be a stay at home mom. Thankfully, barring Keegan losing his job, it looks that we'll be lucky enough to have that happen. We just need to take care of the getting pregnant part first.