Staying at Home

"Mommy we are so blessed, Daddy works hard and you stay home" I hear this comment from E all the time. I guess when say something a lot the kids pick up on it huh? You know what? She is right. I feel amazingly blessed to stay at home with my kids. I feel blessed to see every milestone, dry tears, and get endless hugs. It has made me a better person. I thank my husband daily for all his hard work that enables me to be home with my kids. My ideal would be not to go back to work until all kids are in Kindergarten. Since we are going to have one more it will be at least 7 more years until I go back. By that time I will have been out of the work place for over 10 years. The good news is I have a career that it is pretty easy to jump back into. To be honest I don't know if I will ever go back full time. Only time will tell. God has enabled us to live on one income this far and I am hoping this continues for a long time. So how do we do it? How do we live on one income in a two income world? How do I keep my sanity?

Activities- We just recently got a membership to our local Children's museum, we also have one to the zoo. These memberships are wonderful for us because we can go as often as we want for as long as we want. Sometimes we will only spend an hour at the zoo, and we don't worry about it knowing we can go back anytime. Both memberships are under $100 for our family of 4. We go to each about once a week (less for the zoo in the winter). It means my kids are entertained and learning for less than $2 a week. A pretty good bargain if you ask me.

Jack at the Children's Museum

Emma at the Children's Museum

Preschool & Mother's Day Out- These are both a HUGE luxury, and I know that. I am so thankful that we can do these. Emma loves school. For those of you that know me Emma is just like me. It takes her a little longer to learn to follow rules and respect authority, school has done this for her. She loves it and begs to go, if at some point she asks me not to go we will stop and she can stay home for now she enjoys it and is learning so much. J starts Mother's Day Out on Friday it is only one day a week and will be a break for Mommy. I am very comfortable with the church he is going too, and I know he will enjoy it. I have been doing some behavior consulting work and taking J with me. This is just not possible anymore the older and more mobile he gets. I cut down my consulting to one time a month so I will be able to do this on a Friday he is in school and cover his tuition payment. I like doing consult work this works well for both of us. Andrew gets off work early on Friday so we will actually be able to have an adult lunch together! We don't have babysitters in the area and rarely get time to ourselves. This will give us one day a week to reconnect and I am really looking forward to it.

Budgeting and Meal Planning- Andrew and I live well, but on a budget. We don't spend freely, and save for almost everything. We were very luck to find Dave Ramsey's tools very early in our marriage and live a debt free life. This financial freedom enables us to live comfortably and not paycheck to paycheck. We don't worry about which bills get paid which month or freak out if a big expense comes up. Every Saturday I sit down and meal plan for the week. By doing this I am able to plan time consuming meals on days Emma is in school, and easy meals for nights we have activities such as church. We eat out a ton less if we have a plan, and save a lot of money. I enjoy cooking and for me it is a way I serve my family.

Please don't get me wrong. I am not a better Mom than others because I stay at home. My mother went back to work when I was two and she is the MOST amazing Mom, truly she is the best there is no comparison. My sister works full time and she is also an amazing Mom. I respect her an don't know how she gets it all done. I choose to stay home because it is best for our family.

I think that is it. So what makes you a good Stay at Home Mom? I am always looking for better ideas!