Being a Stay At Home Mum is easy

Being a stay at home mum is easy. Your shifts are only 24 hours long and sleep is left to the hands of a small infant. The salary you earned before having a baby is reduced to zero and even though you are working hard, you haven't the time or the money to spend on yourself as a reward. 

Being a stay at home mum is easy. Everybody thinks you are on a long term holiday and drops into every conversation the awkward question of "When are you going back to work". If a mother decides to do work from home it isn't seen as "real work"-  even though they are also juggling a baby whilst attempting deadlines with uni or work.  When your partner comes home from work you are both needing a break- but society pushes the expectation that only the "working" parent should be allowed some alone time. 

Being a stay home mum is easy. Everybody assumes that being a stay at home mum is a luxury that only a few can afford. You're expected to be eternally grateful to your partner because he is the one going to work and earning the money- and in our society, money is valued more than the work done as a parent. 

Being a stay at home mum is easy.  The days can be lonely when you have only a baby to talk to. Adult conversations are few and far between and you find yourself sitting on Facebook just to have some form of contact with the outside world. 

Being a stay at home mum is easy. Everyone talks about joining mother groups, fun activities or social outings to make friends but between juggling different ages, sleep times and personalities, it can be months before I see someone to catch up for a play date. 

Being a stay at home mum is easy. There are people that seem to think that every baby is planned and that you should have the finances or career in place to ensure that you can transition between work and home with ease. But the truth is for a lot of families going back to work and putting your baby in childcare actually makes you financially worse off. 

Being a stay at home mother is by the far the greatest decision I have ever made but it doesn't mean that my days aren't hard or exhausting just like yours. Looking after a human can be extremely draining- and let's remember that these little people are going to be the building blocks of our future. Stay at home mums and dad (and working mums and dads!) need all the support they can get and we should be spending our time building our villages instead of tearing them down.