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Motherhood

Switching Careers, Stay-at home Mom is an Honorable Business Title

Switching Careers, Stay-at home Mom is an Honorable Business Title

What does it mean to be a stay-at-home-mom (SAHM) or work-at-home-mom (WAHM) and why would anyone choose this lifestyle or how does it choose them? Why would anyone choose to forgo or postpone the career they studied for in college and trained so hard to establish?

Lean in, I’ll tell you.

Two discussions on Facebook this week led by friends played into this post I had begun and inspired one I will share soon about what “mommy bloggers” do all day.

AS IF THESE POSTS WERE SCRIPTED. I love it when that happens.

If you are blessed with the ability to choose what I mention in the lead paragraph, certainly you have heard “It must be nice to be able to stay home and raise your children!”

Yes, it can be nice.

Guess what? Today, many men are making such choices too. I see a growing number of dads in the drop-off and pick-up lines at school and out and about at the grocery and dry cleaners during the day. Imagine THAT?
According to several sources and this story on CBS News, the most accurate count of stay-at-home dads has seen rapid growth and is estimated at two million today, with numbers varying about how many of those dads also get paid to work from home.

The Facebook post that solidifies and echoes my feelings about the choice my husband and I made of my being a SAHM/WAHM went something like this:
“If I stayed on my career path before marriage, I could be making the big bucks and be in a prestigious job like some of my former co-workers. And I’m truly happy for their success. But as I chaperoned my son’s field trip, I was reminded that during this fleeting window while my kids are young, I am grateful to have the flexibility to volunteer, work, and play from home (especially meaningful because I never thought I could be happy doing it). I may be poor but I am feeling richly blessed today,” wrote my friend Amber Johnson, editor of this very site, Mile High Mamas.

To which I responded, “Our bank vault may echo, but our heart bank is full!” I like that one; maybe I’ll make it a meme.

More moms are staying home: According to the Pew Research Center, the share of mothers who do not work outside the home has risen over the past decade, reversing a long-term decline in stay-at-home mothers.

Do I miss the hustle and bustle of the public relations career I worked decades to achieve an admirable level of success? Some days, sure I do. Maybe it is more realistic to say I miss it many days and the opportunities it provided.

I love what I do. Notice I don’t refer to my career in the past tense? It is because I still do much of what I did in the business office, but now, when I work, I do so in my home office. That is, when I am lucky enough to have a paying client – or if I am working to gain paying clients.

I invested myself, juggled a rather high-level career and growing family, some weeks better than others, and I enjoyed a good salary and the chance to meet and work with interesting people, often people whose names are well-known, and I have seen much of our country through business travel. The career path I have followed has provided many rewarding moments, some awards and ample kudos; it has provided me with a wealth of interesting friends, and memories of the times we have worked together.

On those days when I am missing the daily grind of business meetings, team collaboration, creative brainstorming, I remind myself of all the times I shut my office door and cried because I left my child who spiked a fever at home with a grandparent, or I got the call that she took her first steps, lost a tooth, went potty for the first time in the toilet. I remember the times I often rushed from work only to be the last parent to arrive at the school play or got to the field barely in time to see a play, or sadly, the many times I arrived just as they were walking off the field or stage.

These days, I pay close attention to sales, I clip coupons and now download them on my phone which can make the shopping trip a bit longer but the extra work stretches the paycheck. I mostly color my hair, get haircuts at walk-in salons, paint my nails, plan more staycations, and recently, I try to cook more meals at home, tapping into my inner Julia Child. To supplement my SAHM/WAHM salary, I resell our children’s toys and clothing they outgrow, I manage my personal blog B Cause I Said So and I seek freelance public relations and writing work. Truth be told, I did much of this when I earned a more impressive salary.

wahmBut guess what? I usually have one of the best seats at the school plays and spelling bees and I sometimes get to be THAT PARENT who chaperones the field trips, plans the class parties, and knows many of their friends in their classes and my kids seem to love it.

While my titles of SAHM/WAHM take top billing on my business portfolio, I also have worked in retail, which is not for the faint of heart. Requiring long hours, mental and physical challenges and you miss many holidays or the opportunity to travel away during those times, which is not family-friendly. Because of the employee discount our wardrobe is good, the gift-giving is simplistic and discounted, for me the commute is sweet, and the ability to work shorter shifts while my children are in class has appeal. I have also garnered solid sales and marketing experience to add to my resume.

While some days as a SAHM/WAHM I am as tired as I recall being after working full-time outside of the home, my wallet seems mostly empty, my stress level can be mighty, and I don’t have too many frequent flyer miles. Most days, however, I relate fully to Johnson’s takeaway: “whatever path you’ve chosen (or has chosen you), find your joy.”

rajean1Rajean Blomquist spends an extraordinary amount of time using social media because many days it puts money in her bank account and when it doesn’t it serves as an admirable distraction. Rajean is a non-native Colorado ambassador, happy wife, and mother of four. In 2011 the award-winning writer found spare time to begin her personal blog “B Cause I Said So” and founded rajeanblomquist.com to promote her freelance availability to assist businesses and individuals in developing strategies in public relations, media relations, and digital content while strengthening their public profiles.

Mile High Mamas
Author: Mile High Mamas

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6 Comments

  1. Well said, Rajean. All of our paths are so different and we all do what’s best for our family’s needs. Love this: Our bank vault may echo, but our heart bank is full!

  2. There are a lot of reasons I’m glad I’m able to stay home. Nothing is worse than leaving a child when he or she is sick. It is also no fun trying to figure out who will stay with that sick child if you can not. The same can be said for bad weather. There were no “snow days” where I used to work. I used to dread having to go out in the bad weather and figure out who could trudge over to watch the kids.

  3. I have never met a coupon I didn’t like. I love sales and discounts of any kind. Being a SAHM forces you to look for that extra deal and coupon. I know it sounds strange, but I get a little rush when I get a real good deal. I’m a nerd, I know.

  4. Truthfully, I always knew I’d want to stay home after kids; that I’d want to change every diaper, do every load of laundry, fix every lunch, and be waiting at the curb for the bus each afternoon. The day my first daughter was born, I turned to my husband and said, “I’m never going back to work.” I meant it. I knew I would feel fulfilled by motherhood in the short term, and that in the long term, I would find a way to achieve professional success again.

  5. Excellent article, Rajean! Great choices we all make, no matter what we choose to do! Thankfully I never had to leave a sick child or miss a single event, but then I am lucky. Not everyone has employers like mine, or I would have made a different choice for sure, or my hubby would have. We are ALL so blessed!

  6. Five years ago this week I went out on my own as a freelance web designer and blogger. It’s been a crazy ride but I am so grateful for the opportunity. I love that we all have the choice to find our best path!

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