DISCLOSURE: As a blogger, my content may include affiliate links from advertisers. I may earn a commission from actions readers take on these links, such as a click, purchase, or subscribe. However, these are the tools that I recommend fully and have helped my blog tremendously, and are at no cost to you.
After being in the workforce for 23 years, and then went on to maternity leave for almost one and a half year now, I can certainly feel the benefits of being a stay at home mum.
You have so much quality times with your little one and you can observe her development throughout her growth. You also have the time to learn about raising children. I have read so much more books in this field during my maternity leave. I am currently also taking on courses about child psychology, childcare and child mindfulness. I feel that I have more time to learn and grow with my child along with her growth path.
Below are some of the highlights that I found being a stay at home mum:
Precious moments
You won’t miss out on witnessing those precious moments that you might not be able to witness again. From the first time, your baby brings her palms together to that very first smile, to that very first time she sits up and that very first step. This list can go on, and you will certainly understand if you are a stay at home mum.
Quality family time
You can spend more quality time as a family because you simply have more time to dedicate on the preparation for family dinner, set up for the family celebration of milestone events, time for a family night for movies without being afraid of sleep-depriving, and playing with your baby without too much restriction on time. This list can go on too. And I believe parents especially mums who are reading here can give me an exhaustive list of quality family activities they could arrange and do when being a stay at home mum.
Save the costs
Many parents can’t agree more on this one. You can save a big chunk of money by looking after the bub by yourself and not having him/her at childcare. And for the very first two years of a baby’s life, exploring and socializing have not yet played a major role in their growth and development, what they need is the attachment with their mum and dad. Therefore, it is better to stay at home and take care of your baby before they turn three.
Apart from the big chunk of childcare cost being saved, you also save on commuting costs for going to and getting back from work, socializing costs spend during and after work, business lunch and dinner expenditures and so on.
All these saved money you can transfer them into the money to spend on your baby’s nappies, wipes, new clothing and other necessities.
More me time
Being a mum is already a time-consuming role that deprives of your me times. So if you are working, it is even harder for you to have some quality me times. Stay at home mums can have more time to themselves, the things I could do more is my early morning meditation and yoga, and my late-night learnings on things like child psychology and so on. I also tend to have more me times in the afternoon for a coffee and book time while the bub is having a nap.
Self development for mums
You will have the opportunity to engage in more self-development such as starting that dream blog just like what I am doing here or launch that dream business that you have always been longing for, or treat the stay at home as a new stepping stone to build a better family environment that can nurture and nourish the quality of the relationship between you and your partner, moreover improving your cooking skills as you now have the luxury of time to really dig into the culinary world of even join that health and fitness club you have ever dreamt of to join when you have the luxury of time.
So, what about being a working mum. I certainly believe there are a lot of benefits from being a working mum, some of the main benefits are:
Career progression
Many working mums already had a great trajectory in their career and don’t want to lose the continuity of career progression. Therefore, they would feel much better psychologically to continue work after having a child. A rewarding career will not only give mums monetary compensation, but more importantly the sense of self-belonging and identity.
Not forego your career also means that you can feel equality between men and women. Just because you had a baby doesn’t mean that you have to stop pursue your career. The options for women and men should be the same.
While there is an exclusive responsibility that only women can breastfeed a child, but this should not be the reason why she has to be the one stay at home.
Getting some peace of mind
By going to work and sending your children to childcare, a working mum can get a break from parenthood and some peace of mind. Some mums feel that by switching the hats from mum to a working woman, they tend to have more positive mindset from self recognition at work, and when they are with their kids after work, they tend to have more patience and also to express more love to their kids.
Why not be your own boss
At the end of the day, mums will always have the choice to return to workforce or stay at home! They can choose whichever is the best for themselves and the whole family financially, emotionally and physically. A good balance could be simply become your own boss by the freedom of working from home and looking after your baby at the same time. For example, when I am blogging, I could have my bub simply sleeps right beside me. There are just so much creative ways for mums to have a work and life balance. So don’t be afraid of making changes and step into something you had dreamt of for so long.
What are your thoughts mums and dads on this topic? Share with us and fellow parents your insights. Remember, sharing is caring. ☺️
Like our blog and Join our Healthy Mum and Bub Group on Facebook to engage with fellow mums and dads! Share your words of wisdom or two to help our parenthood journey to become easier and more fruitful😉.