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Building a Family is Work

October 8, 2013 by Jaimi Erickson 19 Comments

Ready to have the ENERGY to be the best mom you can be? Get started! Thanks for stopping by!

Welcome back! Did you already get started here?

Building a family is work. That is what we do as moms. We lay a foundation of love and support. We BUILD our family from the ground up!
How do we create peace on Earth? Create peace in the hearts and minds of each child born on this planet. I truly believe if we provide a solid family foundation before we send our children off into the world, and provide soft, trusted, respectful places to land when times get tough, the world would be closer to peace than it is now. Building a family is work-hard work!
 The wise woman builds her house, but with her own hands the foolish one tears hers down.  Proverbs 14:1 (NIV)
Being a mom is a full time job whether you make it your only full time job as a stay-at-home mom, or try to balance it with work outside of the home or work at home.

 

Watching my mother while I was growing, I saw firsthand the work that it took to balance a part time job night shift job with staying home full time. My mom had to put her career second to us.

 

She had to call in sick to stay home with us if we were ill.

 

She had to get very little sleep the mornings after she worked in order to supervise us.

This experience was enough to convince me that I did not want to try out the juggling act of career vs. home; I wanted to stay at home. Being a mom was a job in and of itself for my mom, and it is a full-time job for me.

 

What we do all day, when separated into individual tasks, makes up the careers of some people.  If they get to say they work, then so do we. 

 

Housekeeping, cooking, baking, sewing, budgeting, taxes, gardening, home maintenance, plumbing, extermination, child care, chauffeur, nurse, laundress, philosopher, teacher, animal caretaker (if you have pets), home organizer, decorator, coach, investor and retirement planner are on my list.

 

We don’t work on every one of those tasks every day, but some we never stop doing even at night.

 

When a fever spikes at 3 AM, when the baby does not settle down easily, when a child wets the bed, we are on call for all of it, 24-7!

 

We have eyes on the economy because we depend on one income rather than two. To say that women who stay home are out of touch, or not affected by what happens in the economy out in the working world, is to completely miss the foundation of what we do all day: live on one income!

 

Because you do this ‘mom thing’ as your job, you have the opportunity to provide security and peace in your home and for your children.

Remember that the main job we moms do is building a family. 

 

That is WORK and it is WORTH IT.

 

A weekly series of motivation for moms brought to you by stay at home mom bloggers at The Stay-at-Home Mom Survival Guide.
Building a family is work. That is what we do as moms. We lay a foundation of love and support. We BUILD our family from the ground up!


This post is featured in A Complete Guide for Stay-at-Home Moms: When You Need Encouragement.

 


More Mom Motivation:

My Description of the Perfect Mom

Really, What Do You Do All Day?

We Can Overcome Our Childhood

 

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Filed Under: motherhood, motivation Tagged With: family, stay at home mom, work at home, working, working mom

Comments

  1. Tara Mitchell says

    October 16, 2013 at 1:42 pm

    Great post! I worked when my first two were little, and have been blessed to stay home for the past 12 years. Our lives are considerably different – less eating out, less vacations, etc. But, I wouldn't have it any other way. Thanks for linking up at the Hearts for Home blog hop. I'm featuring you this week.

    Reply
    • Jaimi says

      October 22, 2013 at 5:56 pm

      Thank you Tara. I appreciate that! Thanks for sharing with me.

      Reply
  2. C Hill says

    October 14, 2013 at 9:05 pm

    So many points here I agree with! Great post!

    I found you through the Monday Mom Blog Hop!

    Reply
    • Jaimi says

      October 22, 2013 at 5:55 pm

      Great! Thanks for stopping by to check out the post and leave your thoughts. Take care!

      Reply
  3. Sarah @ How Wee Learn says

    October 11, 2013 at 6:10 pm

    What a wonderful post Jaimi – I have just taken the plunge into being an official stay at home Mom with the end of my third Maternity Leave last month. I must say – it is harder then I anticipated. But reading a post like this is such a great reminder for why I made this choice for my family. Yes it is hard, but it is also amazingly rewarding. Thank you for the Motivation! I will be back often for more!!!

    Reply
    • Jaimi says

      October 11, 2013 at 7:56 pm

      Congrats on the new baby and getting to be home with your children now! How exciting. I am so glad that you were able to make the choice and feel at peace with it. It's great to have your perspective here and I look forward to you stopping back again. All the best!

      Reply
  4. Anonymous says

    October 9, 2013 at 9:20 am

    Jaimi, thanks again for another great post. The last part of your post reminded me of something. When we were expecting our first child we took a child prep class and the teacher said to us "don't worry about making money, enjoy your children. They grow up fast." We would like to be in better financial circumstances, and it's tempting to go back to work to increase our household income to afford the things that we want for us and for our children. But we are providing in other ways that IMHO are more important. Maria D.

    Reply
    • Jaimi says

      October 10, 2013 at 4:24 pm

      Maria, that is so true. We have seasons of life-our children will not be young forever or in as much need of our time, so we might as well be there for them when they do really need our presence. I think there will be time for money-making or other personal career growth as we can focus on that more when our children grow. I am so glad you shared. Keeping wants and needs in balance are so important, but definitely worth it to be able to care for our families!

      Reply
  5. Jennifer M says

    October 8, 2013 at 4:32 pm

    Thank you!

    Reply
    • Jaimi says

      October 8, 2013 at 5:53 pm

      Jennifer, you are very welcome. Thanks for stopping by!

      Reply
  6. Jackie says

    October 8, 2013 at 11:53 am

    Thank you for this! I love it. Such hard work it is, too!

    Reply
    • Jaimi says

      October 8, 2013 at 5:52 pm

      You are very welcome! Yes it is hard work!

      Reply
  7. Marian says

    October 8, 2013 at 10:13 am

    Beautifully said, I think those who think less of being a mother or stay at home mom, is either insecure or too scared to just embrace it.

    Reply
    • Jaimi says

      October 8, 2013 at 5:52 pm

      Thank you, Marian! It can be intimidating to some to be at peace with staying home/motherhood. Hopefully these posts will help. Thanks for sharing your thoughts.

      Reply
  8. Kristie - My Sunshine and Rainbows says

    August 26, 2012 at 12:57 pm

    What a fantastic article!! The first paragraph I particularly agree with!!

    Reply
    • Jaimi says

      September 2, 2012 at 8:14 pm

      Kristie, I am so glad to hear from you! Thank you for taking the time to read and share your thoughts. Our families are so important. Best to you!

      Reply
  9. Jaimi says

    April 24, 2012 at 7:14 pm

    I am glad! Thanks for the comment.

    Reply
  10. Mama! Me? Uh... says

    April 23, 2012 at 7:52 pm

    love it!

    Reply

Trackbacks

  1. Work at Home Job Resources - The Stay-at-Home-Mom Survival Guide says:
    December 31, 2015 at 3:13 pm

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“To plant a garden is to believe in tomorrow.” “To plant a garden is to believe in tomorrow.” - Audrey Hepburn

I spotted her just looking at our little seedlings. The peace of doing with our hands what we have learned with our mind is so satisfying. 

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You know what’s funny? I took this pic not even You know what’s funny? I took this pic not even noticing what random things were out of place. 😅 Perfect for this post today. 👇

Motherhood is a juggling act. We try to seek balance and be joyful, but kids, husband, house, our needs and wants all pull us in different directions.

We worry that if we drop one ball they all will come crashing down! We are busy, yet not feeling productive many days. The line between needs and wants become blurred.

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*****
Balance is not a place where you go and never ever again feel a bump in the road.

Balance is an on-going, always changing, never finished job. 

*****

If you feel out of balance today, you are just in the process of working your way back to it. 

If today was a great day, prepare yourself now because the scale may tilt and things may feel out of your control tomorrow. #reallife

It is not easy to cut things from our calendars or limit our focus each day. I feel that struggle so much. My whole family needs and deserves my time and attention. I am constantly in a state of re-balance, and making attempts to re-organize, as I attempt to balance four children and a husband.

That requires a lot of humility, prayers for God’s peace in my life, and relieving myself of any guilt for not doing it all every day.

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#AD Today was hard! School took longer than expect #AD Today was hard! School took longer than expected, grocery shopping got pushed back, and I am soaking up my time to get quiet and pray it all away. 

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One of the simplest ways to recharge is with a good old hot shower. I think it pretty much cures mom overwhelm and stress. I always planned my showers around the kids’ quiet times. That way I could take my time.

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#AD Yesterday we had some talks. Things got a litt #AD Yesterday we had some talks. Things got a little tense. There were tears because she was embarrassed about what she did and said. 

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How have you been taking time to recharge while st How have you been taking time to recharge while staying at home? Making my list of favorite ways to refresh ‘cause moms with full schedules from morning to night need some simple ideas to get in quiet time. 👏 Do you need recharge time?

I like keeping it simple. 👌 Luxurious shampoo and body butter to maximize the spa feel after a hot shower, Bible study in the morning with my coffee, walking the dog solo are just a few of my break ideas. (I think hot showers are a cure all for a lot of stress! Time to think, feeling the strain wash away...all good things.) What do you think?

Since I have been a #stayathomemom for 13 years now, my kids have always been around and my time has been devoted to home and family. But I NEED time to have quiet and just be alone too. 

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When you really focus on fear, isn’t it pretty s When you really focus on fear, isn’t it pretty silly how much we let it run our lives? 

Anyone who knows my 7 year old daughter knows she has a “no fear” spirit. She can be a bit of an adrenaline junkie. She is always moving, seeking out fun and not intimidated by the unknown.

As a parent I both admire and cringe. 😅 

I find that I have to suppress my fear when it comes to her adventurous spirit so I do not diminish her true nature. I also have to be on the ball from a parenting perspective to talk through being smart while having fun. 

It is not as if we can ever see the results from the actions before we act though. 

Remembering myself how I truly only know what I see and what faith teaches me allows me to focus on eliminating fear from ruling.

For many years I was the opposite of my wild child. I was always thinking too far ahead to see what potential pain may come. That suppressed my nature. I see my kids so social, so eager to try new things and it energizes me to set that example too. 

Fear is not a worthwhile debate partner. 

“She is clothed with strength and dignity; she can laugh at the days to come.” ~Proverbs 31:25, NIV

Do you wrestle with fear in parenting and life in general or are you more of the no fear type?

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