A while back, an amazing stay-at-home mom wrote a blog called “When You Are Enough” and although I’m not a SAHM, I can relate. You see, there’s a very similar question that I dread answering: “So, do you stay at home with your kids?”
“No. I work,” I start with. But my heart sinks a little bit. Not because I wish I didn’t work, but because I worry the person asking feels like the fact that I work makes me less of a mom… because I worry that the fact I work makes me less of a mom. Part of me hopes they ask more questions and part of me hopes they stop. You see, I don’t only work because I have to work (although I do have to work, don’t get me wrong). I also work because I love it. I grew up with a hard-working father who really showed me what hard work could earn you – not only money, but stability, satisfaction and respect. So, I work. And I enjoy that.
But none of that takes away from the fact that I am still a mother. Not part time, but full time. Even when I’m at work, I think of them, and I’m working for them. I work so I can provide a good life for them. I work so they see a young woman can be just as qualified as an older man. I work so they see that you can start as an Administrative Assistant and work your way up to Director of Operations in 4 years if you work hard and prove yourself. I work so they can see that doing something you love and with people you like can make life a whole lost easier and going to “work” a whole lot more fun. I work so I can put myself in a position where I can take off during the day to see them off to school or go to their events, so I don’t have to miss the big things, even though sometimes I have to miss the small ones. I work for our future. I work for their future.
If I could clone myself and stay home with my kids all day AND work all day, I think I probably would. But since that advancement in science seems to still be a ways off, I choose to believe I can work and still be enough for them. See, like you, my sweet SAHM friend, I also worry I’m not enough sometimes. But we are enough. We are just what God made us to be for the children he entrusted to us, no matter where we are from 9-5.