Tag: Stay At Home Mum

My Job!

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My choice to become a stay at home mum was super easy!  In fact there was never a question over whether I would stay home or go back to work.  It just happened naturally when Ollie was born, I had to leave my job anyway because we were due to move back to Belfast!

I can’t believe how quickly time as a stay at home mum has flown by.  Here we are 9 years since I left work and I can’t imagine what returning to employment will be like! It’s necessary now rather than optional because I need to be financially independent!  I feel very fortunate that I’ve had the opportunity to stay at home with my boys for so long!  It’s always made sense financially but now with them both in school…

I know we aren’t meant to call staying at home a job… but this is by far the best job I’ve ever had and I’ve learnt lots about responsibility, patience, using my imagination and a ton of other skills that might benefit me when I re-enter the workplace.  I’ve loved seeing the boys as much as I have and filling our days with playing, crafts and adventures.

Now with my kids in school, it’s time for me to get my butt into gear regarding my career path.  It’s time.  What will I do??  Who knows!

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My Job…

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My choice to become a stay at home mum was an easy one.  In fact, I don’t actually remember there ever being a question about it.  I really don’t remember James and I sitting down and having a long, drawn out conversation about whether or not I would stay at home, or would return to work.  It was just one of those things that happened.  We were living in Dublin when we had Ollie, due to move back to Belfast when he was just 3 months.  I had to leave my job anyway… I just never went back!

Here we are 5 1/2 years later and I have no intention of returning to work in the 9-5 world.  I can’t think of anything I would dislike more!  I’ve never enjoyed working (does anyone reeeeally?) and I’m very lucky to have the opportunity to be a stay at home mum to my boys.  I know a lot of people don’t have a choice.  It makes sense financially for me to stay at home because I’m not qualified in anything.  My salary would never be worth working 9-5 and having the kids minded by someone else.  We have no family available to mind them day to day… so would have to pay a lot for childcare.  I wouldn’t have enough money left after paying for childcare, to make it worth not seeing them as much as I do now.  It would literally be pennies.

It’s also quite important to me that I give Nate the same one on one attention that Ollie was able to have before he started school.  Ollie had me all to himself for 3 1/2 years… and Nate gets me all to himself everyday when Ollie is at school.

I love being a stay at home mum… I love seeing the boys and filling my day with playing, crafts and all things boyish… sometimes we just sit and watch tv.  The other good thing is that I want to be an established photographer when Nate starts school and being a stay at home mum gives me time to learn and work on getting that set up!  I need a job that can give me flexibility and I can work whatever hours I want to… especially over the summer holidays when both boys will eventually be off school!  Being a self employed photographer will give me that.

This stay at home mum gig is definitely the best job I’ve ever had!

(This post is a throwback to a year ago when I first posted it.  I think the same now, so thought it deserved to be shared again.)

5 Years From Now…

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Over the last little while I have given a lot of thought that what life might be like years from now… what goals will I have achieved and what kind of a person/ wife/ mum will I be.

In 5 years time, I will be 33 but almost turning 34.  It’s funny that in 5 years I will be just the age that James is now.  I’ll be a 33 year old mum to a 6 1/2 year old and a 10 year old!  We won’t have anymore children… that’s for sure… we took care of that at the start of the year!  I will be done with cots and potty training, prams and preschool!  Both of the boys will be in Primary school… Nate will have just finished P2… Ollie will have just finished P6, moving on to his final year of Primary school!

I hope to be a better mum.  I’m an ace mum now, but I hope to have learnt patience a little more and learnt to relax about certain things.  I freak out about Ollie’s growing independence and it’s something I need to calm down about.  Having children is definitely a learning process that never stops!

James and I will be 11 years married by then.  That’s crazy to imagine, though the last 6 years have gone pretty fast.  We filled those years with a ton of moving and making babies… so I really do wonder what the next 5 have in store for us.  I hope to be a better wife that I am now… practice makes perfect and all that!

I’m pretty sure we will be living in the same house, even though I would love to move to something / somewhere a bit different.  If we are still here, I hope to have finished decorating!

Will I still be a stay at home mum in 5 years time?  I can’t imagine NOT being a stay at home mum but I do hope to be making money myself through photography.  It is the only job I would like, that will still allow me to be home for my children getting in from school, and able to choose to take time off for holidays.  I can’t wait for the day that I can call myself a professional photographer and make money from something that I love to do anyway.