Thoughts on staying home

The Girltalkers have been doing an excellent series on homemaking. This comes at a time for me when I've been making the transition from being a teacher to being a stay-at-home (soon to be) mom. Up until maybe the past week it hasn't seemed like much of a transition, since I am used to having the summer off from work. However, since Walmart has begun stocking it's shelves with school supplies again, I am reminded that teaching other people's children will no longer be my job come this fall. Rather, I will be responsible for teaching and caring for one child- my own. I have looked forward to this change in our lives for quite some time, and I have no regrets in making the decision to stay at home. However, not everyone understands a mother's choice to be at home with her children. When I first announced at work last spring that I would be resigning from my teaching position to be a stay-at-home mom, several people were almost appalled at the idea. A few coworkers even told me how much I would come to dislike staying home, followed by an ominous, "you'll see". Thankfully, most people have been very supportive in our decision. I'll end with this quote from the Girl Talk blog:

"How can it be a large career to tell other people's children [arithmetic], and a small career to tell one's own children about the universe? How can it be broad to be the same thing to everyone, and narrow to be everything to someone? No; a woman's function is laborious, but because it is gigantic, not because it is minute." G.K. Chesterton