for the record.

"Being a full time mother is one of the highest salaried jobs in my field, since the payment is pure love."

-Mildred B. Vermont

I don't think stay-at-home moms or stay-at-home wives get the credit they deserve.

...or even any credit at all.

If i had $1 for every time someone made a comment about me for "not contributing to the family income" I could go shopping guilt-free. Well, let me tell you something...

You are absolutely right. I don't contribute to the family income but I do contribute to the family. I don't have a job I get paid for, but I do have a job.

It's not a 9-5 job.
It's a 24/7 job.

I don't sit behind a desk and file papers.
I run around the house & town taking care of business.

I don't have scheduled meetings to go to.
I'm on call whenever my family needs me.

I don't receive a paycheck.
I work for the satisfaction of knowing I'm being a good wife & mom.
LOVE.

I'm just so tired of feeling a sense of guilt when people mention that I'm using Stephen for money (& if you're in the military, we all know we're not in it for the money) or that I'm holding us back because there's only one income in the family. I'm tired of feeling guilty that I don't put on a business suit [[or scrubs]] in the morning to go to work. I'm tired of feeling useless just because I don't get a paycheck.

It aggravates me to no extent and I can't even put how it really makes me feel into words.

When I wake up in the morning, sure, I don't put on my work clothes, rush to drop the kid off at daycare, and go to work for the next 8 hours. But I do wake up, kiss my baby boy good morning and hold him close as I feed him breakfast knowing that there's no time limit on how long I get to cuddle him. There are phone calls to be made, bills to be paid, dishes to be cleaned, laundry to be washed, laundry to be folded, laundry to be put away, floors to be vacuumed, floors to be swept, bottles to be prepared, dogs to be fed, accounts to be balanced, more laundry to be washed, appointments to go to, groceries to be bought, meals to be cooked, trash to be emptied, more bottles to be prepared, a baby to put to sleep...shall I continue?

Don't get me wrong...there are people out there who can work and keep up the home (more power to them!) but I believe being a stay-at-home mom is a job in itself. So, don't tell me that I'm not contributing to the family. Instead, tell me how taking care of my family and my home is not contributing to the family.

Being a mother is the greatest joy that I could ever imagine and being able to stay at home with my baby is a wonderful thing...I never miss a moment or a milestone. Those who work and are gone all day should be jealous of us.

Okay, now I believe I'm beginning to ramble.
Moral of the story: I have a job. I don't get a paycheck but that's because you can't put an amount to it.

It's priceless.