I graduated from college three weeks before my son was due. I had a part-time job lined up for the fall and I knew with a degree, I could easily find a full-time job and had several offered to me. By the time my son was two weeks, I had quit looking for a full time job and quit my part-time job. The extra money wasn't worth it to me (which, me working --- all it would be was extra money, due to my husband's job we didn't need good benefits or job security.)

It has been the best thing in the world. :)

When my daughter was born, I was working as an apartment manager. The office was connected to our apartment, so it was like working from home. My boss did want me in the office, though, for the majority of the time, except for a lunch break.  So, juggling both a new born and a job, with only 2 weeks to really just focus on the baby, was incredibly hard.  My husband helped as much as he could, but It just had me as an emotional wreck all the time. 

When she was 6 months old, we moved out of state and I've been a SAHM ever since.  it's much better being able to focus on just her and even though it is hard, I'm thankful that I can do that right now. :)

My Mother only stayed home with me from the time I was born till I was 4.  She went back to work while I was in pre-school and absolutely climbed the corporate ladder.She traveled America, taught large conventions and then eventually landed a hug promotion to director of human resources over 5000 employees.  She was the perfect picture of a woman who had it all.  She was married, had a lovely home on a mini-farm, a child and a great job.  People admired her and wanted to be like her. 

When I became a Mom, I wanted to run from everything my Mom was.  I've been a stay at home Mom from day one and as long as God will allow me to I will stay home!

I do not yet have children but want to ASAP. I totally plan on staying home. That is untill my husband starts his own local business, there our kids can be involved, and we will probably spend a lot of time working as a family there. 

I love being a sahm even though there are of course days when the kids are driving me crazy and I just want to get out for a while.  But I know that it would be a mistake to leave them every day.  I would not be happy with someone else raising them.  For me, that is my job and that is what my husband and I both want.  I don't find it a waste of my potential to raise my children.  They are the future. 

My mom is a violinist so she got to work AND stay home with us. When we were little, she taught lessons from home only on saturday mornings or evenings when my dad could watch us and during the week she would only teach lessons to those who had older siblings or parents who didn't mind watching me/playing with us while she taught. Sometimes she would give slight lesson discounts in exchange for someone babysitting me in the other room while their brother/sister/child took a lesson. She would also play orchestra/quartet jobs on some weekends and evenings, when my dad would be home to watch us and would practice for these during our naps or when we were occupying ourselves playing. It wasn't every weekend she would have these jobs. One of the "sacrifices" she did make when she had kids was stop working for a really good orchestra with a fairly rigorous concert schedule and start working for a slightly less renown one with a more flexible schedule. Still, she got out of the house, got to see other adult coworkers and musician friends, had some money coming in, and still spent nearly every day at home with us kids. The downside was sometimes she'd be busy for a whole weekend doing a concert, but there were entire weekends where she didn't have anything going on too. I hope to do something similar after my baby is born. Not with music but with running after school kids' programs. Most of the work would be planning and such from home, and it would only entail being there a few evenings a week when my husband could watch the baby.

I stayed at home for 12 years.  Until my husband was packing his bags.  I had no choice but to get a job.  I my youngest at the time was 4.  I was a wreck putting him in day care and not being home to see my daughters off to school was extremely hard even though I had a great neighbor who watched them for me.  I worked until my 4 year old went into middle school.  At that time I was remarried and felt like I really needed to be home to keep a closer eye on my son.  My husband supported whatever I wanted to do.  We lived on just his salary for 2 months to see if we could make ends meet.  We could and I quit before summer vacation started.  That fall I found out I was pregnant with our 5th child!  I've been home ever since, homeschooling him, and loving it.  I love being a stay at home mom!

I dont mean to sound degrating but I think if I became a stay at home hom I would lose out on my potentual. Before I had a kid I had all sorta of dreams. Now that I have my daughter I got a taste of what its like to be there early in here life. I had 5 weeks of baby time. I think I would go crazy!lol. I couldnt take 10 more years of just tending to the house and taking care of her every need. Having a job makes me feel that I have an identity seperate from my being a mom. Not that its a bad thing at all. I love my child. I just make it a point that I have my own identity. I know ill be there for when my child needs me but I'll keep my outside job too.

@d639@xanga - My mom doesn't like babies much and she definitely could do without toddlers.  Not that she didn't love us but working when we were really little felt right to her so that's what she did.  Had the situation not changed, she would have stayed home once we were mid-way through elementary school. Nothing wrong with it, just a different choice.  I worked when my youngest was tiny and to be quite frank, I didn't miss out on a lot because he wasn't doing a lot. 

I left work when my oldest was 9 months old and stayed home until he was three and his brother was 1 1/2. I didn't necessarily relish going back to work, but it wasn't so bad.  We had a great daycare and my oldest was able to receive needed speech services from the district I work in.  Now is a whole different story.  My oldest is in Kindergarten and I'm already seeing that I will have NO time to help him with school work moving forward.  His brother is finally getting past that whiny, stubborn thing he was doing and is getting to be truly enjoyable to be with.  I am frantic to be home again but it's just not in the cards yet.

My mom's comment on the situation is that if you have a choice to make on when to work, the time to do it is when your kids are very small.  With a good, loving caretaker while you work, they will grow and thrive, even if you aren't there 24 hours a day.  It's when they get older that they need your time and attention to help navigate life's hurdles.  And having worked in a middle school for 2 1/2 years now, I can see that this is very true - so many of my kids look to me and other teachers because their parents, by choice or because they need to work multiple or odd houred jobs, just aren't there.  It breaks my heart to see, especially when some of the kids of the parents who seem to hate having kids at all are the ones who seem to be the most attached to their parents...  So I work now while my kids are young even though it kills me. I am paying off debt and getting things settled so that once I quit working (hopefully in another 2 years), I won't ever have to go back.

@d639@xanga - I think a common misconception is that if you are a SAHM, that's what's you do all day--stay at home. You have no outlet, no friends, no involvement in anything outside the home. That may be true for some SAHM's, but it doesn't have to be! My husband is the youth pastor at our church and I write weekly Bible studies, send out monthly newsletters, attend 3 youth meetings a week, organize outreaches and activities, invite the students over to our home and make them yummy food. I am also the head of our baby/bridal shower committee, take dance classes, use my creative side to bring in some extra income (I sew items and sell them), to name a few. I don't share this to toot my own horn (seriously--I just wanted to give you some concrete examples). I just want you and others (who struggle with the idea of SAHM = only focus on house and baby) to know that being a SAHM offers lots of possibilities to use the skills and talents you have. They don't have to go to waste! And I'm not saying it's wrong for you to have an outside job. I'm just saying that those who choose to be a SAHM don't have to lose out on their potential if they don't want to. No, I can't do everything I used to before we had our baby (meet one-on-one with the girls--now I have a sometimes whiny baby I must bring with me, go on week-long retreats and missions trips--I can't really leave the country with a 6-month old nursing baby), but of course with every choice, there comes a sacrifice. Your child will turn out just as fine as my child because they both have a mommy who loves them. I just wanted to share where I'm coming from.

Good for you!

@d639@xanga - I don't disagree with you entirely, but I'm wondering why you think it would be only staying at home for 10 years? I am currently a stay at home mom to two toddlers (2 and 3), but the older will be starting school in just a few weeks (she's autistic and will be in a special preschool program).  Before we moved here, I went out very often with my friends, especially my friends who had kids.  There are playgroups, their are church groups, special other types of groups, etc.  Just because you aren't working full time doesn't mean that you're losing your potential.  

Interesting. I think if I ever do have kids, someday that I would still be a working mother. But I would take all the time I needed off (like I would maybe take a year off?) Anyways, I think it is actually most probable that I would still be a working mother if I do ever have children.