My 25 Favorite Things about Being a Stay-at-Home Mom

Being a stay-at-home mom gets a pretty bad rap, and for accurate reasons. It can be grueling, isolating, disorganized and monotonous. I also enjoy dying with laughter at the infinite ways in which daily motherhood has stripped me of power and pride and perfectionism. Having a sense of humor is important if not CRITICAL for success at this gig.

But you know what else? It is the best job ever. Hard work reaps great reward, and SAHM life is no exception. For every mess, there’s a precious milestone. For every moment of feeling like a bag lady who’s rapidly losing her brain cells and sometimes her very fast child, there are 10 of feeling like Wonder Woman. For every tantrum, there are hundreds of sweet little smiles for which you have endured the teething.

Hear me now, before I deny it! I love being a stay-at-home mom. Here are the 25 reasons why I believe with all my heart that, in addition to being the most important, significant, difficult job in the world—being a stay-at-home mom is also the downright best:

1. I can wear whatever I want every day. Did you hear that? WHATEVER I WANT!
2. My toddler can wear whatever I want every day! But, I better enjoy this now. I wore a Minnie Mouse dress for a year straight when I was three and my mom was defenseless against it.
3. I don’t have to blow-dry my massively thick hair every single day. The struggle is real and the lack of pressure feels like a luxury.
4. I have a constant little buddy. Emerson is truly my BFF.
5. For right now, I am the master of our agenda. Mall? Sure! Disneyland? Yep! Starbucks? Make it a triple shot!
6. I’ve learned the necessity of flexibility in an agenda, which makes life all-around more enjoyable.
7. We know the people in our community: grocery baggers, fro yo shop owners, bankers and fellow moms.
8. I’ve discovered a whole new, dynamic network of young moms who I never, ever would have met otherwise; these big-hearted heroes are everywhere.
9. Emerson makes me feel like a stand-up comedian with my constant new voices and dances. Toddlers are an easy laugh and wonderful ego boost.
10. On several occasions, strangers have mistaken me for the nanny. Of course, they meant “young, hot, college-aged” nanny. Shhhhhh! Don’t ruin my fun and act like it’s only because my daughter looks absolutely n.o.t.h.i.n.g. like me (which of course we both secretly know is the only reason).
11. I have more material than EVER for laughing at myself, and every good woman should be able to laugh at herself.
12. I have the privilege of witnessing every little first and slight new development. My heart could burst for each one.
13. We get to enjoy the great outdoors constantly: beaches, parks, pools, fields and lakes. As a working girl, many days the only outdoor air I breathed was on the walk from my car to my cube.
14. It’s an important part of my job description to just play sometimes. Literally. Just. Play. Never mind the poop. Again, ssshhh.
15. I can go grocery shopping mid-day in the middle of the week, when there’s general peace (until we ruin it) and the absence of lines (until we create one by dropping the eggs and leaving my wallet in the car and realizing we’ve lost Emerson’s bow).
16. I can go to the gym mid-day in the middle of the week; whoever decided that gyms should have daycare deserves hugs, kisses and everything that I own.
17. I get to read to my girl every day, multiple times a day. This is important to me.
18. I no longer have work nightmares of missed deadlines, horrible typos and showing up at the office in PJs. Now I just work in my PJs and we’re totally good.
19. Critiquing kid TV/movies is incredibly fun. WHY are all Disney princesses so very sexy and motherless? WHY does Barney encourage good habits like brushing teeth without the water running but bad habits like eating mac n’ cheese three times a day?
20. I’m in control of Emerson’s love life. She’s currently dating approximately four young gentlemen and they’re all fantastic. We’ll discuss monogamy at a later date.
21. When I finally have a few childless hours, I am so easily glee-filled with simple adult pleasures like reading magazines, completing meals and finishing conversations.
22. I don’t have to accrue PTO days to take a vacation. True, I don’t get ANY vacation days as a mom, but I also don’t have to answer to anyone when we have the chance to skip out of town.
23. I have the brain space and enough rare snippets of time to pursue my creative passions (i.e., writing from my heart and shopping from my heart).
24. I’m accountable to a little one for every single one of my actions throughout the day; hopefully this is refining my character qualities. Mostly the ones called patience, patience and PATIENCE.
25. I’m responsible for a life; my daily duties, slowly but surely, are contributing to the formation of a human soul. I think we’re all built with a God-given yearning to do work that matters—and I know without a doubt that this does.

I really struggled with the decision to leave my career and stay home, and it’s hard to believe that it’s already been more than a year. But one thing’s for sure: I never knew how much I would love it. How it would change me from the inside out, soften my heart, invite new adventures, open my eyes to new beauty and people and meaning.

Are there downsides? Of course. Bad days? Often. Moments of sheer insanity? Too many to count. But at the end of each day, no matter how great or horrible, when Doug and I fist-pound and sink into the couch, I eat my ice cream with a deep sense of peace, relaying Emerson’s latest strengths and affections and quirks, and I truly believe that I have the best job in the world.

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