Being A SAHM Is Just As Tedious As Working Outside The Home So Stop Romanticizing It

175969560Obligations suck – bottom line. Whether your obligation is work or kids – it’s an obligation nonetheless. If you think it’s so much better to be at home with kids all day than to work outside the home, you may be right if you had a full time nanny. If you don’t – it’s just a suckfest in its own way.

When I say things like this it sound like I hate kids. I don’t hate kids. I love kids very much, especially my own. But raising them is work. Now, maybe you are one of those people who is totally selfless and thinks that raising children is your dharma and good for you. But many of us realize that the day-to-day is as tedious as any other job, even though we are serving little beings that we love more than life itself.

I saw a post on Reddit today, by a working mom who laments that she cannot afford to stay at home with her kids. She reached out to Reddit to help her come to terms with her situation:

My fiance and I have a 2.5 year old son and we both work outside of the home full time. My fiance is 100% satisfied with working, in fact he needs it. Its good for him. I, on the other hand, absolutely hate working. There is nothing I want more than to stay at home with our child, cook, clean, do the shopping, schedule play dates and go on outings. The fact that I have to wake up every day to go to work seriously depresses me to the point where I literally feel sick to my stomach about it on the drive there. Unfortunately, we can’t afford for me not to work, especially since we are planning on moving in a few months to a more expensive place. I basically don’t have a choice.

Frankly, parenting is a little more enjoyable when you get momentary breaks from it. Maybe the reason she thinks she would be so over-the-moon with staying home with her kids all day is because she isn’t doing it right now. I know when I was still working outside the home after the birth of my first child, I hated to leave him; for about 15 minutes. Then the separation anxiety would pass, and I would enjoy being in the adult world, having adult conversations, doing things that didn’t involve children.

Basically what I’m saying is – adulthood sucks. Obligations are everywhere and swapping one obligation for another – even if it involves the things you love most in the world – may not end up being the dream you think it is.

(photo: Getty Images)

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