Being a stay-at-home mom is a choice you make for yourself – not for everyone

I spend a lot of time in the car. I know all the back roads, all the shortcuts, the long and short traffic lights, what time of day to take, which route, and which routes to avoid at rush hour. I suppose you could say that I have become something of a traffic expert.

I have to be. When you have young children crying in cars, you better not get stuck in traffic. When you start late at home, you better know the quickest route to lessons! I would never have had that need if I had not had children who would trust me to have them in their designated places at the right time.

When people asked me if I worked, I used to explain that I was a mother. Now when they ask me I tell them that I work very hard but they don’t pay me money.

I spend a lot of my time away from home (driving and shopping), so I can’t say that I stay home with my kids. But what makes me most proud is to say that I am a full time, and I do not take that word lightly, mother, and I like it that way!

What kind of job would challenge me as an artist, musician, chef, driver, and efficiency expert (in both time and money management)? None that I know of. And knowing myself, I would be very bored if I had to choose a field in which to refine my skills instead of enjoying this wide spectrum of activities.

It is not easy being a professional mother. It is not for everybody. Being a mother 24 hours a day has to be something you want to do.

You can’t do anything right unless you really enjoy it. This is a job where resentment over one’s position and responsibilities hurts the whole family.

You can’t fake good motherhood. You have to feel it deep inside. You have to choose it free of pressure because only you face it and only you know if you can accept or not its commitments that can be very unreasonable at times.

Not everyone can be a full-time mother. Not everyone should be a full-time mother. It’s a homework. But if you can make it a success, the rewards are unknowable.

Children need love, time, and attention. Mothers need to be happy with themselves and their place in the world before they can have the love and ability to give to their children.

You cannot truly love or even know others if you do not fully know yourself. Only with true self-understanding can one understand the other.

If full-time motherhood is right for you, you’ll know it when you hold your newborn pack. If this is your station in life, you feel it in the deepest part of your being. If it’s the right choice for you, there will be no questions; there will be no doubts. Just remember, the choice should be yours alone.