Stay at home mums deserve more recognition for their sacrifices
This week I had the pleasure of being invited to appear on a debate that aired on the SBS program 'Insight', the debate focused on childcare. I was invited to appear on the show, as a parent who made the deliberate decision not to use childcare.
However it soon turned into a mish mash between the experts as to whether children under the age of two should be in full time childcare, the quality of childcare in Australia and who should foot the bill.
For me the only relevant point to arise from the debate came from author Karen Miles; she made a fabulous point, one that was unfortunately quickly glossed over. Karen stated, "stay at home mums are not valued by society, the sacrifices we make to be able to stay at home are hardly recognised and worse yet not even celebrated". The mums who opt to sacrifice it all to stay at home and raise their family were hardly given a mention during this debate. Whilst the debate rages over childcare, the mums who give it all up to nurture the next generation are swept aside.
The general public fails to recognise the financial sacrifices stay at home mums make - instead assuming we can afford to stay at home, because our partners earn 'enough'. Sadly in most cases just to stay at home requires huge financial sacrifices - many stay at home mums go with out. I have nothing against mums who return to work, more power to you, with today's costs of living I appreciate some mums are forced to return to work.
But today's rant is about learning from the stay at home mums, giving their efforts the recognition they deserve and acknowledging the sacrifices they have made to be able to stay at home.
My husband and I made a commitment one of us would stay at home to raise the family, this was well before we even had children. My fathers sudden passing, when I was aged 24 taught me I had to value every minute of life and for me that meant staying at home with the kids. To achieve this goal my family has had to make BIG sacrifices.
Today I want to hear about the sacrifices other mums have made so they could stay at home.
What have you done? Lets celebrate the achievements of the SAHM, and give the due recognition to the mums who have made mother hood their career at all costs.
Here's a peak into what we have done so I could stay at home for the past four years.
The big-ticket items
- We rent, we sacrificed buying our first home.
- We own and operate one car and use public transport... (Our bit for the environment).
- Sacrificed a career as a corporate accountant
Baby stuff
- We brought our nursery furniture on sale, as 'shop floor display' - with scuffmarks too boot. We received a further discount for these.
- We only brought the bare essentials for raising the kids. No change table, we changed bubs on the floor... on the bed... on the couch... and our backs are fine! We never purchased a nappy bag we used a cheap backpack and learnt to pack the necessities - we survived.
- We used cloth nappies and disposables when out and about.
Day to day
- Buy clothes only at the sales, we limit our brand purchases. We stock up for next season with classics that won't date.
- Sell the toys and equipment as the kids grow out of them and use the money to replenish the toy box.
- We buy and sell on eBay.
- We use shopper dockets for dining out.
- I forgo the monthly beauticians visit - All primp and preening is in house.
- Annually we shop around for better deals on our utilities - phone, electricity, insurance, Internet. This saves a couple of hundred each year.
Sonia Williams a mother of two, qualified accountant, author and founder of the free online magazine Show Mummy the Money, designed to help mums, save, make and protect their money.
This information is correct at time of writing. It is general advice only and has not been tailored to your personal circumstances. Please seek personal financial advice prior to acting on this information.
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