This week marks the end of an era in my life.  Well, for a few years any way.  I currently work full-time at an awesome non-profit that is known all over the world for it’s work, but counting today I only have 3 days left at this wonderful establishment.  Originally, when I found out I was knocked up I thought that there was no choice in the matter.  I thought that I would pop this kid out and 3 months later I’d be back sitting in my cubicle….you know, just minus the belly.

About 1/2 way through my pregnancy, my husband surprised me and brought up the topic of me quitting and becoming a stay-at-home mom.  I was all, “wow…I can stay home and raise my baby!  Wait, do I want to quit?”  From there we started discussing all the pros and cons of going back to work, and also for staying at home.

I went back and forth for months.  I would have a bad day at work and come home ranting about how I was certain I wanted to quit, and the next I would go to a meeting that would spark my passion about my work and I came home talking about how I  wanted to stay a working woman.  I’m not going to deny it…it was one of the hardest decisions of my life.  Really.

In the end, I didn’t have any references on a good place/person to watch my child.  No joke, every single on of my friends and co-workers that had a child within the past few years has had a friend or family member watch their child if they went back to work.  I have neither.  All my family members already have jobs or just don’t live in town.

The cost of gas and the time spent driving to and from the daycare, and the cost of a good trustworthy daycare would almost defeat the point of me going back to work.  At some point I would just be making money to spend it all on daycare and gas.  What’s the point in that?

Staying at home, I think, will also provide time and energy for me to keep the house in working order.  Right now just working without a child I tend to lack in the keeping the house spic-n-span area.  With a full-time job AND a newborn….pah-lease!  My house would turn into a giant black hole of nasty.

And the best reason for me to stay home, the kicker, I would get to raise my child.  I would have the opportunity to witness 1st hand all of my child’s milestones.  Not many people now get to say that, and I am so thankful that I will have that opportunity.

I know being a stay-at-home mom isn’t for everyone, but for our family I think it’s the right decision.  At least for now.  Yes, we will be doing a bit more budgeting, but it’s so going to be worth it.  Has anyone else made this decision or at least thinking about it?  How did it go?  Was it worth it?

This entry was posted on Tuesday, July 27th, 2010 at 7:03 am and is filed under Daily, Pregnancy. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Responses are currently closed, but you can trackback from your own site.