My new life as a Full-time, Stay at home, Mom.

 I recently quit my job as a kindergarten teacher. I have really loved being a kindergarten teacher and after 8 

My sweet boys!



years of teaching,  really felt like I knew what I was doing. I tried finding a balance between being a good mother, a good wife, and a good teacher, but never really felt like I had it figured out.  If I tried hard to be really good in one area, another area suffered.  Being a mother was my first priority, but working as a kindergarten teacher and spending time with other people's children, drained me of any patience and energy to bring home to my children, let alone my husband, who always seemed to be on the bottom of my list.  Home cooked meals never seemed to happen, nor did scripture study or family home evenings, (I just couldn't bring myself to planning another "lesson")  Even reading to my children was a chore because I had spent all day at school reading to other people's children.  As my children are got older, I realized I just didn't need to meet their physical needs, but I needed to spend more time teaching them the gospel, manners, morals, and also meet their emotional needs.  Needless to say, I felt overwhelmed. Getting pregnant with my third (and what my husbands likes to call our "last" child) made me realize I couldn't keep doing what I was doing and remain sane. 

I read a talk from Julie Beck about motherhood that inspired me and justified why I wanted to quit my job. 
Several lines sang out to me.
"Our Father has entrusted us as women with His children, and He has asked us to love them and help lead them safely past the dangers of mortality back home." 

"The responsibility mothers have today has never required more vigilance. Children are being born into a world where they “wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places”

Sweet Baby Jane!



These last few lines really made me feel like quitting wasn't really a choice, but a necessity for the eternal welfare of my children.



"Home is where women have the most power and influence; therefore, Latter-day Saint women should be the best homemakers in the world. Working beside children in homemaking tasks creates opportunities to teach and model qualities children should emulate."

"Wise mothers are selective about their own activities and involvement to conserve their limited strength in order to maximize their influence where it matters most."

"Mothers who know are willing to live on less and consume less of the world’s goods in order to spend more time with their children."

So, with my husband on board, I quit,  literally the day before my baby was born.  Since I have quit,  I have to admit that I have struggled a little adjusting to my new life as a full-time, stay at home mother.   I do miss teaching.  I miss having something of my own to go to and do.  I miss the other teachers that I work with and I miss having structure.  And I worry about the extra financial pressure I have caused my husband by cutting back on our income.   I sometimes feel like a leech, living off of my husbands hard work as he wakes up super early and goes to a job each day, while I get to stay home.

I sure do love these guys!!



 But I have also seen and felt the benefits from me staying home.  I have more patience for my children.  I have more time to spend and enjoy "playing" with them.  I have felt what Sister Beck calls from her talk, "delight" in my children, thinking that everything they do is so endearing.  I feel like they are better behaved and their is more harmony in our home. Because I have more time, I have started scripture study with them.  I have started to enjoy cooking and I think I am getting better at it. Remarkably, there is dinner on the table 4 nights a week.  My house is cleaner.  I am happier, in a better mood all the time, and have less stress.   I used to worry about them getting sick and having to take off work, but now if they get sick I can just take care of them.  But the best benefit of me staying home that I didn't realize would happen is I love them more.  I love my husband more.  I love my life!!!  Someday, when the kids are older, I'll go back and teach again, but for now, I am going to enjoy staying home.