AnchorMommy

The thing I love about staying home

November 4, 2009 by Shannon

I know I keep talking about my old job, and the freedom I now have as a stay-at-home mom. And I swear, I did not intend to write another post along those lines. But you’re about to see why I have to dwell on the topic a bit more.

Tuesday morning we headed for the library to return a book and attend the story hour and “music and movement” class, which is basically a big singalong. By the end of music hour, I started to realize something. I now know all the words to the songs the class sings every week. I can now sing along, just like all the other moms (and dads). This immediately weirded me out, because I remember feeling out of place when Kellan and I first started going to these classes. I felt like a working mom, sticking out like a sore thumb, in a sea of SAHMs.

I am one of them.

Which is certainly not a bad thing. But it just further cements the fact that I no longer command a salary. And yeah, sometimes that makes me feel a little sorry for myself, even though I still firmly believe I did the right thing by putting my career on hold.

Later on in the car, Kellan just so happened to ask me why I don’t have a job like Daddy.

“Kellan, remember when I used to go to work?” I asked.

“Yeah.”

“How did that make you feel when I went to work all the time?”

“Um, sad. Because I wanted to spend some more time with you. That why I feel sad.”

Are you kidding me??? I couldn’t believe his reply — especially the subdued tone of his voice. I choked back the emotion in the back of my throat, dabbed at my watery eyes, and replied, “Now that I’m not going to work all the time, how do you feel?”

“I’m better! Cause now I spend time with you! Yeah, that’s why.”

That conversation is the kind of currency I’m paid in now. And it is worth one million times more than all the paychecks I could ever earn.