Ya’ll being a stay-at-home mom can be hard. See my Southern even came out there. This blog is all about doing life and motherhood with grace and with systems and techniques to help make it all the best it can be. But today I want to take time just to share some of the many benefits of being a stay-at-home mom for whenever we need the encouragement.
We’re in a society that does not often value the role of being a stay-at-home mom. But it is such a beautiful position that cannot even be numbered in value.
That said I just saw a video that shared a stat from Salary.com. They looked at what a fair wage would be for stay-at-home moms. They found that the typical stay-at-home mom works over 96 hours per week. Think about that! If you work from home too you are doing even more. They came up with a salary of nearly 119k per year.
It’s not about trying to put a salary number on it because like I said the work you are doing for your family and children goes far beyond any number that is put out there. It can reach into eternity. Only then will we know the full impact.
But I did want to share that video and number to remind you that you are worthy of being financially supported while you stay home and take care of the household and children. It is the biggest and most precious job momma.
What Stay At Home Moms Do?
Stay-at-home moms have so many roles. Teacher, chef, financial manager, mentor, providing emotional support and guidance. Housekeeping, homemaking, and more. Often tasks include taking care of the children, meal planning and preparation, errands and grocery shopping, tracking and organizing, cleaning, chores, and setting up the home environment to support the family.
There can be work-from-home tasks added to this and also homeschooling responsibilities. A stay-at-home mom is the CEO and COO of the household.
A Chief Executive Officer sets the strategy in place and oversees the team while a Chief Operating Officer oversees the daily operations. Moms do both roles and many more.
While there are challenges to being a stay-at-home there are so many benefits of being a stay-at-home mom. Here are a few…
The Benefits Of Being A Stay At Home Mom
Greater Emotional Well Being For The Family
When both parents are working outside of the home it can make life feel rushed and more stressful. When you have a stay-at-home parent they can handle many of the household tasks that would be hard to accomplish and likely get neglected otherwise. Stay-at-home mothers are especially suited to set the tone for the home.
Being at home with her children, a mother can build deep connections with them in a way that is harder for a working mother. This time can create so many benefits like being able to make healthy meals, plan activities for less screen time, reduce peer pressure because you are more involved, and educate children on family values.
Train up a child in the way he should go: And when he is old, he will not depart from it.
Proverbs 22:6
Training our children for life is a great responsibility and a lot of work. Time is needed to create a place of calm and set up a nurturing environment for learning. Little things in our environment and the way we do things can build a strong foundation for our children if we are intentional. It can be a hard decision to leave work knowing that it will create a different financial situation but many moms have realized that staying home was the best decision of their lives.
We only have the opportunity to live this part of our lives once and so do our children. What will we do with this precious time?
Lower cortisol levels and better work-life balance even for the working spouse are definitely some of the many benefits of a mom staying home.
Being home creates a high responsibility but also flexibility to develop systems and routines that work for each of our families for less stress and more connection. This helps us create a greater bond within the family unit. It allows us to be more available for important milestones and also witness those precious moments. As a mother, I am so painfully aware of how fast the time goes with our children and I want to work hard to make the most of it.
Educational Advantages For Ourselves and Our Children
Now this is even more true if you homeschool but even if you don’t when the mother is home and aware and setting up the environment she can give her children so much better learning opportunities.
I was a preschool teacher with a small class and I tried my best to cater to children’s interests. But as a mother, you know your child better than any teacher ever can. You can develop activities and learning opportunities around each child’s interest and help set up their home environment in a way that tailors learning to their needs.
If you don’t homeschool you can still do this outside of school hours. You can also foster a greater love for learning within your child by encouraging their curiosity.
You can also arrange your routine with growth opportunities for yourself with reading and learning time to continue to grow in motherhood and as a person. You can help set up a time and environment to make this easier for your spouse as well. We should never stop learning.
Financial Benefits
Now this one may not seem like a benefit if you are going from two working parents down to one. After all, you may be losing a whole salary. But there are some financial advantages for a mother to stay home.
A wise stay-at-home mother can spend more effort in balancing the budget and managing finances. She can also learn to be more efficient with resources like meal prepping and trying new recipes and methods to cut down on grocery costs.
You will also be eliminating the cost of daycare and work-related costs like uniforms or work clothes, commuting expenses, etc.
Like the Proverbs 31 woman, we can work wisely to save money and to bring in extra income.
She seeketh wool, and flax, and worketh willingly with her hands. She is like the merchants’ ships; she bringeth her food from afar. She riseth also while it is yet night, and giveth meat to her household, and a portion to her maidens. She considereth a field, and buyeth it: with the fruit of her hands, she planteth a vineyard. She girdeth her loins with strength, and strengtheneth her arms. She perceiveth that her merchandise is good: her candle goeth not out by night. She layeth her hands to the spindle, and her hands hold the distaff.
Proverbs 31:14-19
If you are concerned about not having much money, and this is a real concern, then pray about how you can make a single income go far. New moms often think they will want to go back to work but realize once the baby is here that they want to stay home. This is a conversation you will have to have with your working husband. Talk about your family life and pray about it and seek the Lord about how you can make it all work. You need two involved parents and a support network.
A Smooth running Household
Of course, we all have those days where the laundry is piled up and the financial tracking is behind and we are tired and overwhelmed. But as moms at home, we can work to keep a more productive and smooth-running household.
As stay-at-home moms, we can help increase the productivity of our households so much. We can do this by managing household tasks, making needed phone calls, setting up appointments, streamlining the daily family chores, and organizing the home environment.
We can also better support our spouse whether he is working in or out of the home by setting him up for greater success. As a working mom, working outside the home I mean because we’re all working moms, it is much harder to take care of all the things that need to be handled every day.
We can enhance our partner’s professional life by giving him peace in knowing things at home are taken care of.
Greater Personal Growth And Development
We mentioned this briefly under education but being a stay-at-home mom requires us to grow so much. We can continue to learn by trying new recipes, planting a garden, taking courses, reading books, and exploring hobbies.
We are not to be slaves to our children and households. If we can streamline our routines and systems we can create more time to pursue our interests and reconnect with things that matter deeply to us. It is challenging in the everyday bussyness of being a stay-at-home parent but there are times and opportunities if we look for them.
We can listen to podcasts while we clean or audiobooks while we fold laundry. We can include the children in preparing new recipes or working the soil. As we learn new skills our children’s lives are being enhanced too.
Building A Community
As we love and nurture our families at home it can also branch out into our churches, schools, and communities. We can participate in more community and school events. We could start a homeschool group. We can get our children involved in some outside activities and be there with them.
We can volunteer within our communities and meet new people. We can take our children to play dates and host play dates. We can build a supportive network that branches out and helps other parents.
If you have business skills from past jobs you can put those skills to work. You could teach classes at your local chamber of commerce or hold a community skills workshop. You could support local businesses, start a food bank, or community garden, or coordinate needed transportation services.
Your skills are valuable in your home but also think about ways that you can use your skills to enhance your community while being a mother and prioritizing your family. It is great for children to see that we can care for our families while also helping.
The Beauty And The Challenge And Perceptions
That adage the days are long but the years are short is so true. Our days can feel long and hard as a stay-at-home mom but the time is so precious and beautiful and goes by so fast. May the Lord grant us the strength to treasure it and give us wisdom to use the time well.
May we balance mom self-care so we stay healthy and strong while growing and nurturing our families. May we make balanced choices and live with grace and purpose. There are different seasons in every part of life. May we utilize this season in such a way as to maximize its benefits.
In this TED Talk, Ben Young decided to allow Google to fill in the end of this phrase, Stay At Home Moms are….
The common searches that came up were: lazy, annoying, pathetic, and the worst.
A sad list for sure so I decided to do my own fill-in on Google research and here is the list I got:
It’s truly sad what the world thinks. But I want to tell you this momma, if you are a stay-at-home mom or are planning to be a stay-at-home mom you have such a high calling. It’s a calling, not a job, and one of the greatest callings there is. Don’t let anyone else discourage you from it.
It may not work with every family in every stage of life but rather than consider only what we choose may we ask the Lord what He thinks and allow Him to guide us to what is best for our families and how to make it all work.
I love this quote from John Wesley about his mother,
I learned more about Christianity from my mother than from all the theologians in England.
John Wesley
Being a stay-at-home mom enhances you not diminishes you.
If you are already a stay-at-home mom and struggling, look for home mom tips that others have shared. It is one of the most rewarding things but we need encouragement and support.
Family is the most essential unit for our world and keeping it strong is no easy task. Being a stay-at-home and work-from-home mom has grown me in ways that I could have never expanded otherwise. But the biggest expansion has been my heart.
The role you are in now or about to be in as a stay-at-mom is shaping your family’s future. You’ve got this momma! Be there for those formative years. Be there for your child’s milestones, they’re first words. Start a second income from home if you can to reduce the financial stress and pray. Spend a lot of time with your family. It’s hard work but you can treasure that quality time that you will never get back.
I know there are some cases where stay-at-home dads are needed and cases where a stay-at-home parent is not feasible. But I truly believe that the Lord will help you do what is best for your family if you ask Him. The early years of a child are so important but family life is important for high-school-aged children too. The tone you set when they are young by spending time together as a family and focusing on the best things for your family is what will set the precedent for when your children are older.
Let me know in the comments what you think about this post and videos. I would love to hear your thoughts. Keep it kind. Let’s support mothers.
Worried about still being “relevant” later on? Check this out:
I think being a stay-at-home mom is one of the hardest jobs but one the best jobs in the world! What do you think? What are the biggest challenges?
If you are also working from home check out the Work Category
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