I am a stay at home mom.  But I haven't always been.  I worked until my 2nd son was born and I will never work again until my kids are in college.

Reasons why I love being home:

I raise my children, not daycare. 

My 2nd son never had the colds and illness my 1st had. 

We sit down everynight to dinner together usually to a healthy meal.  When I worked we never ate dinner at the table, and we ate take out almost every night.

I am able to volunteer at my children's schools and be on top of what's going on in the classroom and with them.

I am home when they get home from school to talk about their day.

This isn't an easy choice to make economically.  I gave up a good job (I have my masters) and some times we struggle and we don't get to do vacations like others do - and I have to coupon shop.  But this was the right choice for our family.

 

I am a stay at home mom.  I love it right now.  I would be so sad to leave my kids every single day.  But, having said that, I hope that once my kids are all in school I can work part time.  I still want to be able to volunteer at school, and things like that, but I think working part time could be a lot of fun.  

I work full time as a police officer. My kiddos go to daycare 3 days a week. My DH is home two days a week. I make a homemade meal every night after I get home. We eat healthy. My kids aren't sick very often. They enjoy daycare and say that had fun when I pick them up.

Of course, I miss my kiddos when I'm at work, but it's the best feeling in the world when they run into my arms when I pick them up. I enjoy my career and I love my kids.

I was always a working mom.  In the beginning my husband was a grad student working on his Ph.d and I was a social worker.  After he finished I kept on working.  I had a 10-3pm job and it was perfect for our family.

I have always been a working mom too.  Funny...my life sounds like Thorney's....I worked 40 hours a week as a social worker and put my husband through nursing school while our three kids were babies.  When he graduated school and started working, I cut back my hours and worked about 9-3 most days.  We moved to Washington D.C. four years ago for me to take a job working on a contract with the CDC.  My work hours increased dramatically...but my kids are teens now.  It is a little easier b/c they are more self sufficient.  My husband has worked 3pm-11pm for his entire nursing career and it has been nice b/c one of us was always home with our kids.  He just got a job that he started in few weeks working for the National Institutes of Health and it will be a day job.  Changes will be occurring and I am not sure how that will work out.  There are days when I wish I would have been a stay at home mom, but honestly I don't think I would have been too good at it.  I am not great at doing the car pool thing or doing pre-school or being a room mom.  Fortunately, my jobs have always been flexible enough so that if the kids were sick or had dentist appointments or things like that I could adjust to stay home with them or take them. I guess it has all worked out in the end. 

I'm a SAHM and I love it.  I used to be a high school teacher, but I've been home the last few years with my son and daughter.  I love being able to volunteer in the classroom and help my son (who is on the spectrum) navigate social skills, etc.  It's been a blessing that we've been able to do it so far. 

This can be a tricky question. The juggle is just that, always a juggle. And a lot can depend on if the wife is working because she has to to help support the family, or if she wants to and it has nothing to do with money.

Very interesting! My husband and I have been talking about this a lot lately. I have been a nanny for a long time and recently lost/quit my job because they needed me around more often and my school work was getting neglected. I am a full time student taking online classes to finish my bachelors. I hope to graduate before the end of the year. Now the question is, after graduation should I be a stay at home wife and start our family, or should I establish myself in a career? I would definitely like to be a mommy sooner than later, but I want to be home with my kids. Do you think it's important to establish a career right after graduation? There are so many questions. Is it selfish to stay at home while my husband works if we don't have kids yet? Is it worth getting a job while trying to start a family knowing that I might want to quit so I can stay at home when my first child is born?

PS: I respect all of you mommies. Whether you have the pleasure of staying home with your little nuggets or supporting your family, you are still so blessed! Somehow you balance it all- finances, time, love, marriage...

I have been a little bit of both during my short 10 years of marriage.  Now I consider myself a stay at home mom that works once per month at a job that I enjoy.  It is not part-time but just enough to give me that sense of knowing I could support my family if I needed too.  Luckily my husbands job is working out great right now.