Why I’m thinking of being a stay-at-home mum

Last Sunday, our pastor preached a very sobering message. It is one of those sermons that give you a serious wake up call. The title of the message was, ‘If this was your last day on earth where would you be?’

‘Is it in the office trying to beat your deadline or at the bar enjoying the finest brand of wine? Or perhaps at the beauty salon sprucing yourself in readiness to meet your maker? Or would you dash to the ATM to withdraw the last penny? Or would you run to be with your family, to spend those fleeting hours with your loved ones as you share with them how much you love them?’

I do not know about you, but I would dash to go and spend time with my children and husband. Life should consist of spending more time with family and loved ones, but because of careers and our pursuits for the finer things in life, we rarely have time for important callings like that.

In our jam-packed lives, our most important treasures take a back seat as our minds are preoccupied with how to land the most lucrative offers and beat crazy deadlines.

Most of us career mothers spend the better part of our lives at the workplace trying to please our snobbish bosses so that we can earn that ‘elusive’ corner office or promotion.

We put in extra hours, take up more assignments at the expense of our families. Thing is, work will always go on uninterrupted even if you collapse and die today.

But just imagine what will happen if you collapse and die in the office because of exhaustion? Your kids will suffer for the rest of their lives. This brings me to my next point. I always admire a group of women called stay-at-home mums and soon I will take that bold step.

An ignorant observer may brush them off as unambitious women just because they decided to put their careers on hold to take care of the most important assignment first - tending to their kids in their formative years.

Some career women might be making enviable six-figure salaries, but what they are missing out on the home front is mind-blowing and cannot be quantified in terms of money.

I have a friend who is doing so well career-wise she has employed three house helps, two take care of her two kids and one takes care of house hold chores. With that taken care of, she assumes that she has the liberty to glob trot in search of mega deals.

The way I see those toddlers behaving, I have no doubt they will turn out delinquent and their mom will be forced to use that money she has accumulated to enroll the children to rehab centres. Is it worth it?

photo:www.mouthsofmums.com.au