The Price of Staying at Home vs The Price of Working

Greetings~

Last week Mr. T and I had a wonderful but thought provoking conversation, especially for this melancholic, about the reality of being a stay at home mom. Is it realistic in today's society to live on one income?  If so how do you way the pros and cons of both sides?  How do you decide the difference between prudence and the fact that God will provide?

As a man Mr. T's nature is to want to provide for our family making sure that their is always bread on the table and a roof over our head. That means now and in to the future including at the ripe old age of retirement.

My nature as a women inclines me to worry more about the upbringing of Little Might and any other children that we may be blessed to have in the future. That means that I don't want any body else to raise my children.

I truly feel that at times I take the burden on too heavily, thinking, that as a Catholic women I am 100% responsible for raising my own children and for providing a wholesome, loving, welcoming home, for Mr. T and all our children. I do feel that the women's place if at all possible and yes with sacrifice is in the home.  I realize though that that is not always possible, and I have dear friends who would love to stay at home but they have discerned that it is not possible for them to do that. Yes, I respect that, and more than anything I feel for them and can only imagine that the Lord gives them the grace, or maybe more applicable the energy to work away from home.

I also think that it is sad and troubling that our society has lost the value of having moms stay-at-home. I do believe that this is a problem that has had great consequences on our families, in our homes, and throughout society. All the way from children not experiencing the love that they should from parents, to women not realizing there worth and value if they choose to stay at home.

This weekend I saw a wonderful bumper sticker. Mothering a great profession. May we as individuals and may our society come to realize that being a mother is the greatest profession that a women will ever be entrusted with.

Likewise I am reminded of a great quote,

A Christian mother cannot claim the honor 

of having built Notre Dame Cathedral. 

She need not. 

She has built something more magnificent than any cathedral—

a dwelling for an immortal soul, 

the tiny perfection of her baby’s body. 

The angels have not been blessed with such a grace… 

What on God’s good earth is more glorious than this—to be a mother?”

~Cardinal Mindzenty

Blessings,

Joy