value..

I read an article in the paper today, grateful that there are people out there to be my voice, who can see things the way I see them and 'get' that family is, well pretty much it, everything..

As most of you know, that very controversial topic of being a stay at home mum is one I am extremely passionate about.  I know we all make choices we believe are the best for our families, we do whatever it is we have to do to keep things running smoothly to give our kids the best life we know how to give, and we all choose to do that differently.  Each to their own, whatever works for you, I'm certainly never going to judge a parent for doing what they need to do & what they believe is right for their family.  

I do feel however that the 'work' done at home by a full time parent is so desperately under valued.  For us, we chose early on that one of us would be the primary full time carer for our children, in our case it's me.  We chose to go with less, to simplify things & not need so much.  We don't go on holidays (but then we live in the most beautiful place, so I certainly don't feel like we're missing out), we don't really do anything too big or elaborate, and with high school for the big boy only 2 years away, we need to be very careful about what we spend our money on.  It's hard when you hear your kids feeling a little bit sorry for themselves, that they don't do all these fabulously exciting things or have the biggest, the latest & the best of everything.  They don't realise it yet, of course, but they don't know just how insignificant all of that 'stuff' is. 

It's taken me a very long time to stop feeling inadequate about my role, being lucky enough to stay at home and to be available to my boys at any given time.  To stop seeing myself as I feel so many people do, feeling as though I'm this 'kept' woman, a princess living a privileged life, being taken care of by my strong hardworking man.  The role I play is in fact very important and we work hard together in raising this family the best way we know how.

So yes, it can be hard, but it will all be worth it if it means that our kids are being brought up in a happy, secure & for the most part stress free environment.  At the same time there is huge pressure being the primary carer, being the one to shape these little people for the future of this world.

So thank you Rachel Buchanan, for having your say & for speaking for so many of us, for making perfectly logical sense!  Though, no offence but I must say that your 'bad' day where you feel like the 1950's housewife is in fact my best day, but that's just my perspective...

On another note, if anyone knows how to stop those text enhancement boxes coming up on particular words can you please share..x