Thats right.....I am a stay at home mommy....PART I

So I have been a stay at home mom now for a little over eighteen months. I just wanted to share some of the questions that family, friends and complete strangers have asked me about this decision.

Disclaimer: I in no way intend to offend any of my working mom friends out there but some of my responses may seem like that. Be assured its more me defending myself against some of these absurd questions than hating on the working mom, because I applaud you all and the ability you have to balance work and home.

Question #1 - Aren't you bored?

Yes! In fact, the only thing that keeps me from hanging myself everyday is the longing to one day go back into corporate America and sit in front of a computer screen for 8+ hours a day and do the same thing over and over again. By the way, Ben Franklin called that insanity. Okay, that was a completely sarcastic response. NO! I am not bored. Do you have visions of me sitting on my couch watching bad TV, combing through facebook and eating bon bons? Well sorry, for any haters out there, that is just not me. In fact, I started attending breastfeeding and new mom support groups when Kayleigh was just 3 weeks old. I met a lot of moms through those groups and I now get out of the house almost everyday for hours at a time. We visit museums, playgrounds (both indoor and outdoor), zoos, story time, friends houses along with many other fun activities. I also enrolled Kayleigh in "The Little Gym" at four months old. This was both to get us out of the house as well as to meet more people since I moved to Ohio when she was two weeks old. She is still a member of "The Little Gym" and LOVES it! I am on facebook way too much but this was a problem before I began to stay home.

Also, on top of experiencing all these fun new activities with my little bug, I also have a ton of time to dabble in some fun hobbies such as cooking and photography. Don't worry, I keep myself busy!

Question #2 - Don't you feel bad you are wasting your education?

I was a Quality Assurance Specialist/Analyst/Senior QA Engineer for five years and got the job through a fellow Canisius Alumni. I had a great job for quite a while and I feel I used knowledge that I obtained in my college education. I went to a great school, made great friends, met my husband and learned some wonderful life skills that I don't have to be in an office to use. I am very grateful there are people out there who are concerned that I am sitting at home blowing bubbles and speaking baby talk all day. Well maybe this will make you all feel better about what I am doing since the fact that I have no concerns doesn't mean anything to you.

Believe it or not, I have the same job description I had when I worked for my old company. How the hell can that be? What white rabbit am I now pulling out of my ass to make myself feel better?? Here is a short job description of my title from my last company: "I ensure the quality and integrity of my company's products." Guess What? I do the same thing! Except that I care a little more about the products that I ensure the integrity and quality of because I developed and perfected these products for nine months before I released them into the world for everyone to enjoy. Pretty crazy right? My children are my products now. I am not outsourcing the job to someone else (how American of me!) to ensure they become the top product out there! Eventually I may bring in some outside testers, a.k.a. teachers, because it takes a village right? For now, we are a small company and all the extra work will be done in house. So I am using my education, so you can all sleep soundly tonight knowing that.

Unfortunately, this is where I am going to have to stop although I have a plethora of questions to share with you still! Again, I hope my responses didn't offend anyone, although maybe the controversy will get me more followers. :)

Until next time....