Are you thinking about quitting your job to become a stay at home mom? Maybe you’re scared to quit your job to become a stay at home mom? And you don’t know if its the best decision for you and your family. If you are contemplating whether or not to become a stay-at-home mom you’re on the right track. Choosing to stay-at-home full-time is an entire lifestyle change that not only affects your family but also yourself in a major way. And quitting your job to become a stay at home mom is life changing for better or maybe even for worse. The bottom line is that there is a particular mindset of understanding the overall role of a stay-at-home mom you need to develop in order for your lifestyle to be sustainable.
This post is all about giving you adivice on what you should consider before quitting your job to become a stay at home mom
What is the role of a Stay at home mom?
A stay-at-home mom is a woman whose job is to manage the home and take care of the children full-time while her partner is working in the field. Stay-at-home moms wear several hats ensuring various tasks are completed and often working on many of them at the same time. The role of a SAHM may differ to some degree depending on the home and lifestyle of a particular family. In most cases, SAHMs prepare all the food, preserve the cleanliness of the home, manages monetary revenues & resources, and care for the children while often serving as the homeschool teacher as well. Typically, almost always deciding to step into this lifestyle is a family decision. It’s a huge point in life where many parts have to be considered and discussed before knowing if it’s the best choice for a family. Being a stay at home impacts the entire family.
Why do people consider being a stay at home mom?
Financial reasons are the leading cause of why families decide to raise their children at home. Childcare is expensive. And it can be tough finding facilities where you feel comfortable leaving your children for hours, ensuring you’re getting your money’s worth. Childcare is inordinately expensive especially if you feel as though the center isn’t caring for your child as it should. Childcare facilities are often understaffed with various fluctuations happening from day to day. Many families feel a way to solve this problem with expensive childcare and expectations not being met overall is to stay at home with their children. Other benefits of choosing to stay home are no longer paying for work clothes, school clothes, and gas amongst a number of other costs needed.
Who typically is a Stay at home mom?
Stay-at-home moms are women who simply believe it’s best to stay at home to take care of their children if they have the means to do so. There are many women who wish to be a stay at home moms but cannot simply due to not being able to stop working full-time. There has to be an income coming in that can sustain the family while the mom stays at home. Women who stay at home like raising their kids all day in many cases homeschool their children. Not all women want to do this and they are much happier working outside of the home during the day. Sahm is individuals who have lifestyles that align with what it takes to be a SAHM or they are individuals who desire to take their life in that direction.
Choosing to stay home with your child is a lifestyle decision that many say helps with simplifying the roles within a family. For example, it’s not totally necessary to split all of the chores around the home or have to decide who picks up the children from school or extracurricular activities. The stay-at-home mom can do those things since she has the flexibility. In most cases, one person will go to the physical place of work and make the money while the other parent stays home and takes care of the house and children. It’s a way to streamlining responsibilities and then together both parents can assist in ways to help the other.
Many women become stay-at-home moms without knowing everything that encompasses this lifestyle. The reason I know this is because once I became one I found out all the aspects of the lifestyle that I had no thought of before I started. If I knew then what I know now I would’ve done things differently and prepared in areas to give myself less adversity and less stress.
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so here goes…..
11 things you need to consider before quitting your job to become a stay at home mom
- One Income – Even though it’s obvious you will be utilizing one income it’s important to break this down and understand what this means for you and your family. Simplifying one income will impact the family and a person individually emotionally and mentally. Are you as low maintenance as you believe you are? How long do you desire to live off of one income? When is the marker for when you should start bringing in a side income? What are you willing to sacrifice specifically that cost money? Just saying you will cut down on self-care isn’t enough. Is it nails, hair, or both? You should know yourself enough to know what you can handle and what you cannot.
- Isolation – The lack of socializing you will experience can take a toll on you mentally. You might say “I’m an introvert” or “I don’t have many friends anyway, so I’ll be fine” but human beings naturally need to socialize to some degree. Totally isolation from society is unhealthy and will eventually take a toll on your mind a spirit. One solution is to research some small communities you would like to get involved with. I recommend joining even before you officially stay at home full-time because you will be less likely motivated to join after you see all the work that needs to be done around the house. You may find yourself putting it off and then totally forgetting that you had the intention to join that particular community. Finding a hobby is great too which leads to my next point
- Health routine – Involving a health routine is helpful while staying at home. You need to have the energy to take care of your home and children. Prioritizing your health will help you to excel and experience more joy in being a Stay at home mom. How are your eating habits? Eating healthy whole foods will make a great difference when being a Stay at home mom. Stretching in the morning makes a difference as well. If you are an avid exerciser then that is awesome and keep it up because you are going to need the energy. But if you’re not much of a mover… then get moving! I like to recommend stretching because it’s a great way to connect with your body and yourself.
- Early Morning Routine – Having a morning routine before your kids wake up in the am is a game changer. Journal, pray, meditate, and get some things done that you forgot or were too tired to complete the night before. Did you do the dishes last night? Even if I didn’t Journal or read my morning devotion, I did something that I ran out of time to complete the night or the day before and I knew that If I didn’t finish it It would put me behind today. It’s important to have time to yourself to consciously let yourself know that you are an individual and you are more than a mom or wife. There is depth to you, you have goals, desires, and dreams.
- When are you done? – It’s important to have an idea before you start staying at home full time when you want to start working a different career. Most people ask “when are you going back to work?” I’m not going to say that (because it’s annoying) but if you think you may want to work outside of the home or even start a blog or at-home preschool it’s important to have an idea so you can work on it while you’re still working from home. If you wait too long you may have to stay at home even though mentally, you are done. And that could be difficult because you can start to feel trapped and depressed because some things take a while to take off after you start them. Especially if you don’t plan to stay out of the workforce forever.
- Self evaluate – Are you an extrovert? If so, then Stay at home mom life may not be for you. Sometimes we get in our head and want to try something based on one sole reason. For example, many of us are motivated to become stay at home moms for financial reasons. We see all of the benefits of staying at home and we decide this is what we want to do. But then we forget that we actually love being out of the house and socializing with other adults regularly. The better you self-evaluate the more time you’ll save rather than wasting time on something that’s truly not for you.
- Side money – Having a plan to get side money helps. When you’re at home all day you’ll start to feel like you need to get out of the house some days. When summer comes you will be elated to go to the park but after you go to the park 758,500 times now what? You may start to look for other things to do and it will cost money. Listen, outside costs money. Maybe the activities and hobbies you want to be involved in will cost money that is outside of your family budget. Knowing you may need to get a side job ahead of time could save you hundreds or thousands of dollars in credit card debt.
- Start getting creative – Saving money is key when you are living off of one income and you can actually have fun learning how to save dollars so that your family can still live comfortably and stress-free. It’s all about how you look at it – becoming a stay at home mom could unlock untapped creativity you didn’t know you had. You may also begin to care about new ways of living. You are a homemaker and a home creator. You can make your own cleaning formulas and toothpaste. You may even begin to make your own clothes to save money. It’s a beautiful thing to be creative and to explore that part of yourself.
- Emergency financial plan – Unexpected life events happen and It can take a toll on any family if they’re not well prepared. It will be best to already have a safety net in place just in case you need it.
- Strong Communication – Evaluating your communication with your partner needs to happen because it’s a new time in your life and you may need to talk about finances more so than usual. Or you need to be comfortable with revealing your emotions and state of mind. Being a stay at home mom can sometimes be challenging when you’re in a period of isolation all day with just you and your child(ren). We can plan and sign up for all different types of organizations and hobbies. But finding the right outlet doesn’t always happen right away. In many cases, your partner becomes your rock and so it’s important to have a strong communication style with your husband.
- Find social outlets for your kids – Yes you need social interaction but so do your children. One awesome idea is to sign up for a gym that has a kid’s academy. You can drop off your kids so they can interact with other children and you can work out or get some other work done. It’s a win, win.
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Deciding to become a stay-at-home mom is a serious decision to make for you and your family. There are some parts of being a stay-at-home mom that you may miss once you start and that’s okay. You also shouldn’t wait until everything is perfect to begin. Follow your heart and make the choice based on how you feel is the right path to take. You can always go back to work if this lifestyle is not for you. The best part is being with your children all day every day (which can also be the worst part too sometimes lol). Watching them grow and being able to teach them well, serving them delicious healthy meals on the regular. It’s great. Sit down with your partner and discuss what is best for your family and you’ll make the best decision mama. It’s in you I believe it!
If you apply these tips before quitting your job to become a stay at home mom you will for sure have a great experience if you choose to stay home.
Thanks for reading!
