Every Young Woman should read this.
"My commitment to being a stay at home mom came gradually. It wasn’t something I ever thought I’d do. I was following the path I was told I should follow: I was getting an education, I was working, I was making something of myself. And even though it was silly, I never questioned it until a breaking point came, and then I realized, “I don’t have to do this. No one is making me do this except for me.”
"So we decided not to buy a car. We didn’t buy a house. We shopped at thrift stores and didn’t go out to eat very much. We saved as much as we could, and then we moved to a cheaper city, where Keith’s family was, as soon as we could get out of Toronto. His classmates were buying homes and cars and everything expensive, and we were living in a small apartment. But we had a great time, and the lack of money didn’t really bother us at all.
"I would occasionally chat with his female colleagues about the problems they were having with their nannies, who didn’t like to stay after 6, and who didn’t like to do housework. Why couldn’t these women mop the floors and care for the kids and get dinner ready? Was that too much to ask?
"And I would listen and wonder what planet they were on, because I didn’t have time to do most of that, either. I spent a lot of the time out with my kids, because the apartment was small. She was asking the nanny to stop playing with the kids and clean the house all day. And then I just stopped listening.
"I’m like Heather, who wrote that first article. I’m okay in spite of the day care, not because of it. But I don’t want my kids to grow up and be okay in spite of anything. I want to give them the best, and the best is me. They need their mom.
"I know some women will make different choices, but I guess my question is this: are they really your choices? I never really understood that staying at home was a valid choice."
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