Working Moms Vs. Stay at Home Moms

To be or not to be, THAT...is the question. Well, it has been the question for me for the past couple of months at least. At some point we all face the tough decision of whether or not we should continue to stay home after maternity leave runs out or do we put our heels and pencil skirts back on for the office life? Do we stay home and cater to our children's needs like us mother's do best, or do we put them in daycare/preschool? Do we hold on to them until we don't have a choice to let them go or do we look through our fingers as they walk through the doors of childcare? The questions are endless, and so are the pros and cons, but in my honest opinion, there are no right or wrong answers as long as we have the best interest of our child, family and self in mind. I feel however, that there are often judgments that we face in our decision making either fro others, or ourselves. As a stay at home mother myself, I have questioned if what I was doing was enough since "I'm just a stay at home mom", I have been corrected several times for saying this since as we know there is no such thing as "just a mom" as we are all bloody brilliant!!!! The first few times I heard it I sort of brushed it off, and one day it clicked for me when I had my daughter all clean, nails clipped, hair brushed, toes polished, freshly laundered outfit, the whole nine. I looked at myself wearing the same sweat pants, cami, and bun that I had been wearing for the past three days, chipped nail polish, prickly legs, all the things that made me grateful for a split second I was single so no man would see me (the perks). It was in that moment, that I realized I put my everything into this child, in such a way that working mom's put their all into their paying job so that their kids may benefit from their work and give them everything. The ONLY difference is a paycheck! At the end of the day we all work our asses off to make sure our children have everything and want for nothing. We put our all into being good parents, and that's what counts. Whether we are watching Peppa Pig on repeat, pretending to be a dinosaur, or waking up early and coming home late, or even getting that little bit of overtime, it is all for our sweet sweet babies. We are each other's village that we talk about, and when we doubt ourselves and what we are doing , and if we are doing it well, stop for a second and look at your child/children and there is your answer. They are the direct product of the little, and ultimately huge daily successes that we accomplish. Cheers to that!
-Sydney