Why Stay-at-Home Moms Matter More Than Ever: A Powerful Reminder

Why Stay at Home Moms Matters More Than Ever: A Powerful Reminder

Being a stay at home mom home as you wear many hats. Your days are long and full (read: busy). The work you do is meaningful. And exhausting. 

It stretches your ability to multitask and stretches your patience. Being a SAHM is filled with joy and challenges. 

Work That Often Goes Unnoticed

I’ve said it many times and I’ll say it again: you are the glue holding your family together. You’ve created daily rhythms that help your family thrive. You provide emotional consistency, comfort, and support. 

Even running on fumes, you’re present for your children and give them unmatched care. But a lot of these contributions can go unseen. 

It’s easy to notice when the house is cleaned. It’s less easy to notice all of the appointments you keep and allergies you remember and the millionth diaper you’ve changed.

Your impact isn’t always loud or visible, but it is important. Although it may feel like minutiae, your contributions to your household and family will reverberate through their lives for years.

Why This Role Can Feel So Demanding at Times

Your life can be incredibly repetitive: cook a meal, change a diaper, schedule an appointment, repeat. Life usually throws in a household-wide sickness every now and again to change things up, but it can become monotonous. 

Especially when our children are young, it is easy to want to skip ahead. Once my baby is sleeping through the night. If I can just get him potty trained. If only she could tell me what she wants, we’d both stop crying. 

You’re carrying a lot of responsibility without much in the way of feedback. When you’re caught in these repetitive stretches, it can be easy to feel like your needs aren’t important.

You’re so busy holding space for others’ needs that you can forget about your own. Being stay at home moms means that it is easy to put ourselves on the back burner.

Remember: feeling stretched thin can mean you need a break. Try some gentle self care to feel like yourself again. You’re not doing it wrong, you’ve got a lot of balls in the air. It’s okay to drop some things to take care of more important ones.

Let Go of the Pressure to Do It All

I am officially releasing you from unrealistic expectations. You literally cannot do it all. Why are you trying to? Even stay at home moms are just humans, after all.

Try this: define what success looks like for your family. Not what you see on social media. Not what your mom says you should do. Don’t compare yourself to anyone else. Take a hard look at what bring you contentment and joy and stick to it. 

If you simply do not care if your kids outfits match, let him dress himself and move on with your life. If you know you want your family to be one that spends a lot of time outdoors, get off your phone and go outside, whether it’s hot, cold, rainy, or snowing. 

Define the core values of your family. Stick to them. Forget the rest. Your home will never be perfect, but you can make it perfect for you.

Small Ways to Bring More Ease Into the Day

Create some structure to give you a sense of control over your day. Try my daily toddler schedule for some ideas. 

It doesn’t have to be a rigid schedule, but you can format the day to reflect your values. 

Be sure to protect one small pocket of time throughout the day for yourself. You can check out my post on why I don’t clean during nap time. Make time to slow down. 

Remember, being intentional about how you spend your time produces the results you want. It’s an easy trap to fall into, but you got this. 

Hold Onto Yourself While Caring for Others

You role as a stay at home mom will shift and grow throughout the years. Your identity will also change during this time. 

You may be heavy in your ‘toddler mom era,’ but before long, you’ll be a ‘sports mom,’ or ‘chess competition mom.’ You’ll have highs and lows in your marriage. You might have a season or two with part time work outside the home, or you may transition back to working full time. 

My point is, you’re still you during all of these seasons and it’s important to nurture yourself. You are still allows to have personal interests and dreams for the future (outside of mothering). 

Motherhood should expand your life, not make it smaller. Be sure to not fall into the trap of making everything about others. 

When You Need Support

I spent a long time not asking for help when I needed it. I saw it as a personal shortcoming. 

But having support is a blessing (and IMO, a necessity). Don’t look at it as your failure. We all need help sometimes. 

Having a community is so important, not just as a mother, but for your mental health. You can click here for some ideas on nurturing your mind and body.

A Word of Encouragement

Hear me clearly: what you do matters. Supporting your family is invaluable and shouldn’t be taken lightly. You have a tough and important job. And it is a job. Us stay at home moms have to stick together, so be sure to save this post so you can come back on your difficult days. You’ve got this, Mama!