{Luxury}

I overheard a conversation between moms the other day.
{aka, I was the creeper listening to them talking}
{guys, it's fine}
They were discussing being a stay at home mom.
One bashingly said, "my husband keeps telling me that being a stay at home is a luxury, he obviously hasn't been days… or years at home with our kids."
The other agreed that it wasn't a "luxury", but more of a demand that her kids are requiring of her… since day care is so expensive.
{they both agreed that they would rather have jobs and enjoy only "quality time" with their kids instead of the daily mundane tasks.}

I absorbed what they said and mulled it over in my mind.
I know working moms who would give their left arm for the opportunity to stay home with their kids.
Did I consider it "a luxury?"
After processing my own feelings, I teared up.
{not rare these days… crazy hormones}
My conviction on this is strong.

I would consider being a stay at home mom one of the top 10 blessings in my life.
Definitely.
A true luxury.
100%.
I am not saying it's glamorous and all butterflies and rainbows.
Some days are really, really hard.
{like hide in the bathroom and cry hard}
That is truth.
But I would say, for me, the blessings have outweighed the struggles a million times over.
I can't imagine missing the firsts, the funny one liners, the calls from the school asking to bring the library book, the pretending, the singing as they play, the sound effects, the wrestling matches… and on and on and on.
The mundane are often my favorite things.
I realized while thinking about this that Jake and I have never once had a conversation about me staying home with the kids, we both just knew.
We knew we would do whatever it took to be able to make this happen.
It was that important for both of us.
And for that, I feel overwhelmed with gratitude.

So far, I have had 10 years to soak up my kids…at each stage.
To see details of their life.
The daily changes of their faces.
To know the names, plot points, and the lines of the movies that make them laugh.
To hear the giggles and the 1 million questions that happen every.single.day.
To cut off crusts , unseed the orange, or cut the apple.
Knowing the names and faces of school friends {and parents} as I daily drop off and pick up.
 To attend parties and field trips when I can… and of course, an occasional lunch date.
I can't imagine missing any of these details.
For me, the little thing really are the big things.
{the huge things, really}

Now, if you are reading this and saying, "I work… or wished I work, does that make me a bad mom?"
obviously no,  I am not not not judging you.
Each one of us is a mom the way The Lord and our families need us to be.
I am purely saying that for me… for our family,  this opportunity IS a privilege, a luxury, a blessing.
One that I hold dear.
A luxury that I will count as a blessing for eternity.