What I Learned Playing “Pretend” Stay-At-Home Mom

I just got to play “pretend” stay at home mom for a few weeks, and I loved it.

Fours years ago when my son was born I didn’t have the financial freedom to enjoy the stay-at-home mom life. We were young parents, barely 19. I hadn’t finished school and we were still living with family. So as soon as I got the clearance from my doctor to go back to work, I was basically there the next day. 

However, a few months ago we were in a pretty bad car accident – thank the Lord my son was at home with grandma so he was not injured. But his dad and I got pretty banged up and I was on medical leave from work for about six weeks.

Now, I absolutely wish that I got to stay home with my son under different circumstances but life is about making lemonade, right? Once we were able to get back to most regular day to day activities normally, I started keeping him home regularly and holy moly! Being a stay-at-home mom only worrying about your little human and household things is such a different world that I could get used to. 

I am not in the slightest saying that it is easy — but going from a full-time position to creating your own schedule and getting to spend most of that with your little human was so much fun! I know that doing this gig seriously full time would be different, and even if I was full time at home I’d probably end up being a work-from-home mom, because I’m that girl. But coming back to work after getting to play that role for some weeks is really rough, and is honestly making me question my living arrangements at the moment… 

Anyway! Staying at home with a little human taught me a lot about life and people skills that totally carry over into workplace: 

• Time management: When we’re home and don’t have any places to be, before I know it, it becomes 3PM. On the flip side, when trying to get out the door with a toddler, 10 minutes turns into 20 real quick. You never realize how efficient you are until you get to tackle a to-do list during nap time. 

 • Negotiation: Raising little humans to be good big humans can be extremely frustrating. They can be clever, fragile and downright irrational. This requires finding a very precise balance of being firm in your word while not crossing the meltdown line. Master this and you can handle any customer service situation. 

• Coaching: If you can train a little human to use the potty,  you can most certainly train a big human to perform their duties assigned. Learning what motivates people can lead to so much success. A little patience and encouragement go a long way.

If you’re anything like me, you’re when you’re told you can ‘do anything’, you hear ‘do everything.’ Being a stay at home/work from home mom is absolutely a full-time job. But at the end of the day, no matter how much you do or don’t do, life goes on – unfortunately with or without you. So every day you’ve got to do what’s going to make you and your little happiest; whether that’s at work or at home. Don’t forget! We’re not raising children, we’re raising adults.