How To Be A Grateful Stay-At-Home Mom

It took some time but I am able to finally feel content and grateful to be a stay-at-home mom.

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If you have been following me for a while and know about me, then you know being a stay-at-home mom was not something that I thought I would be.

I never thought that I would be a stay-at-home mom.

It was just something that I wasn’t interested in being.

My mom and my grandma were working parents so I figured that I would also be a working parent once I had children.

I had it all planned out on how things would go.

My plan was to finish grad school, start my career, marry my then-boyfriend, and then start a family.

Well, all of my plans went out the window when I found out I was pregnant in my second to last semester of grad school.

I had my first daughter a month after I graduated from grad school.

So instead of stepping into a career with the degree that I just got, I was stepping into motherhood.

Which meant that I had to rethink some things and ultimately my then-boyfriend and I decided that it would be best that I remain home for the time being.

We thought that I would only be home for about a year but then in early 2020, the pandemic hit and shut everything down.

1 year turned into 2 years.

2 years turned into 3 years.

And now I’m heading into my 4th year of being a stay-at-home mom.

I have experienced some highs and lows during this stay-at-home mom journey in which I have shared some of that with you all.

But something I have been doing more and more is practicing gratitude and contentment within being a stay-at-home mom.

And I want to share what I have been doing with you all.

Here I will be sharing how to be a grateful stay-at-home mom.

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Why Wouldn’t A Stay At Home Mom Be Grateful?

Before I get into how I am being a more grateful stay-at-home mom, let’s talk about this.

Why wouldn’t a stay-at-home mom be grateful to be home?

There are many women who would love to be in a position to be home with their kids all day.

They don’t have to worry about having to go to a job every day.

They can stay home and pretty much do what they want all day.

That was what I used to think before I became a stay-at-home mom.

And I couldn’t have been more wrong.

After becoming a stay-at-home mom, I quickly realized that being home alone with a newborn was much harder than working outside of the home.

This could just be my experience but I was struggling as a newly stay-at-home mom 4 years ago.

In a previous post, I talked about my experience with postpartum depression as a first-time mom.

And how that affected me as a stay-at-home mom.

• Read More: My Experience With Stay-At-Home Mom Depression

In that post, I talked about feeling angry the majority of the time.

I was angry that I was often left alone with our baby.

Angry that I couldn’t get any proper sleep.

And I was angry that I didn’t feel like “me” anymore.

These are just some of the many thoughts that pass through the mind of a stay-at-home mom.

When you make the decision to become a stay-at-home mom, you are choosing to step fully into the role of being a mom.

Being a stay-at-home mom means being a caretaker, a teacher, a chef, a maid, and even a chauffeur at times.

You are choosing to care for your kids full time and there are no days off.

In order to find time for yourself as a stay-at-home mom, you have to squeeze it in while they are sleeping or when someone else can watch them.

You don’t have the pleasure of being able to clock in and out of a shift because the shift doesn’t end.

So, while there are many benefits to being a stay-at-home mom, there are sacrifices that are being made to do so.

For some, it is their career that is being sacrificed.

I stated above that I was in grad school when I got pregnant which meant that I was pursuing further education so that I could hopefully start my own career.

Well, that clearly didn’t happen.

It’s not to say that I will never start my career.

It’s just been put on hold to care for my family who needs me the most right now.

This is why it is so important to practice gratitude as a stay-at-home mom.

Because it is so easy to get up feeling like your value went down as a stay-at-home mom when in reality, it went up.

And now I want to share with you all how I choose to be a more grateful stay-at-home mom.

How To Be A Grateful Stay-At-Home Mom

Be Grateful For This Opportunity

The first thing I had to realize when I became a stay at home was to be grateful that I have the opportunity to be a stay-at-home mom.

Because not every mom gets this opportunity.

There are moms who have no choice but to work outside of the home in order to take care of their families.

And if you ask some of them, they would love to be in your shoes.

If you have been given the opportunity to stay home with your kids, whether planned or not, take it as a blessing.

A blessing that you do get to spend genuine time with your kids.

Because they are only this young once.

The first few years of life for a child are so important and having the opportunity to be home with them during this time allows you to be a part of every aspect of it.

Be Grateful For All That You Contribute

I said above that it is easy to feel like your value goes down once you become a stay-at-home mom.

But that is not true.

Many women nowadays, including myself, were brought up to believe that part of our value is determined by what can contribute financially to our home.

Many of our own grandmothers and great-grandmothers did not have the opportunity to contribute much financially to their homes.

And now that women have way more opportunities to contribute financially, we are taking full advantage of it.

Because many of us were brought up and taught this way, it can feel like you are not contributing when you make the decision to stay home.

But you are.

Even though you are not contributing financially, you are contributing.

You are contributing to the well-being of your children.

You are contributing to the functionality of your home.

And you are contributing to the peace of mind that you receive knowing that your kids are receiving the best care.

Which is your care.

Kids may not remember every little thing that you are doing for them now, but they will remember that you were present.

Your presence alone is contributing whether you think it is or not.

Be Grateful For The Flexibility

One of the aspects that I absolutely love about being a stay-at-home mom is the flexibility that I have during my days.

I can pretty much create my own schedule during the day.

If you have been keeping up with my stay-at-home mom content on here, then you know that in order to thrive as a stay-at-home mom, you need to have a daily routine that you can roughly follow.

Having a daily routine keeps you organized and productive throughout the day.

• Read More: How To Be An Organized Stay-At-Home Mom
• Read More: Productive Stay-At-Home Mom Tips With 2 Kids Under 3

But because things may not always go as planned some days, you have the flexibility to adjust as needed.

If my daughter leaves something behind or gets sick at school, I can go get to the school pretty quickly.

If my husband is needing me to do something that he can’t do at the moment because he is at work, I can handle it for him.

For any sudden issues that may occur, I can typically adjust and take care of them because I’m available.

Be Grateful For A Supportive Partner

And the last thing you can do as a grateful stay-at-home mom is express your appreciation for having a supportive partner.

I know not everyone has a supportive partner, but if you do, be grateful for them.

Something you hear me say a lot on here is how thankful I am for my husband.

Without him, I would not be able to stay home with the girls.

He works to provide for our family to make sure we have a roof over our heads, food in our bellies, and overall just comfortable.

As I mentioned above, we came to a decision for me to stay home together and he has been extremely supportive of me being home and taking care of our girls.

He has never made me feel bad for being home and constantly tells me how much he appreciates me being home and taking care of our family.

I don’t think I would be able to do this if I didn’t have such a supportive partner.

Your Turn

Well, that is how I have been practicing gratitude as a stay-at-home mom. I want to hear from you all now. How are you all choosing to be a more grateful stay-at-home mom? Let me know in the comments and while you are still here, check out my previous post below. Until next time!

• Read More: What I Keep In My 1-Year-Old’s Medicine Cabinet

Love,

Just Jass