Six Million Dollar Momma

I discovered this weekend that  Ann Crittendon, author of The Price of Motherhood,  put a price tag on motherhood - a million dollars.

That is the amount of money a stay at home mom (SAHM) will lose after only having one child by forfeiting a salary, stocks, retirement savings, pension and other benefits.

When I grew up there was a TV show called The Bionic Woman and she was the female version of The Six Million Dollar Man.

Since I have six kids, doesn't that make me a Six Million Dollar Woman?

I was astounded at the cost sacrificed for my career choice, Motherhood, but had I known this 23 years ago when I gave birth to child #1,  I wouldn't have made the decision any differently.

I don't stay home for financial reasons.

Although I home school and feel strongly about my children's education, and some statistics show children of SAHMs do better in school and in testing, I don't stay home for educational reasons.

I am a SAHM for two reasons. (follow link to previous post)



1. The Bible

Titus 2: 3-5

The aged women... teach the young women to be sober, to love their husbands, to love their children,

To be discreet, chaste, keepers at home, good, obedient to their own husbands, that the word of God be not blasphemed.


I cannot reason these verses away. As a young single woman, I felt strongly about obeying the Lord and being a keeper at home when He granted me children. Since the Bible doesn't change, neither have my convictions.


2. I love my children and want to be with them.



I didn't read any books about the benefits of being a SAHM.  I don't need to justify myself or prove my value to others.

I can give my own statistics.

I was there when all six of my children rolled over for the first time, crawled for the first time, sat up for the first time and walked for the first time. I cheered like a maniac, never tiring of watching their accomplishments in life.

I marked their language progress with joy and great amounts of over-exaggerated lip movements as I tried to help them form their words more correctly.

I wore great amounts of baby food, milk and juice while teaching my children how to eat and eventually feed themselves. If I wear food now, it's slopped there with my own clumsy hands.

I was the one they wanted to tuck them in at night. I was the one who heard their secrets when they finally learned how to tell one.

All the firsts, except the naughty ones they got away with at the time, I WAS THERE.

I. was. there.


Yea, SAHMs may not always get a lot of adult interaction.

Yea, SAHMs may sometimes miss their career or wonder what they could have been had they stayed working.

Yea, SAHMs may sometimes be wiping up puke or washing the same dishes over and over and wonder why they went to college.

Yea, SAHMs may sometimes feel a little awkward about not having any of their "own" money to spend and/or a little guilty about not contributing to the bank account.

Yea, SAHMs may experience the typical frustrations, disappointments, shocks, trials and stresses that may make us doubt our value or our choice.

When I look in my kids' eyes, the windows to their precious souls, I know these light trials cannot shake me off the path of obedience.

Yes, it WAS a million dollar decision to stay at home with my kids, because you couldn't have paid me a million dollars to be away from them all day.

I value being a keeper at home because I value my children.

So, as I begin another new week, weak and weary from a trying year, I am thankful to remind myself why I am at home, as a SIX MILLION DOLLAR MOMMA.

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Needing to Make Your Home Sing this Monday? 

Pop over to Nan's blog and see how other Moms are beginning their week.

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Need some motivation this Monday?

Swing by the Fifth Street Mama's blog for a dose.

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Unemployed Career MOMMY

When filling out any form, I hate the line that asks for OCCUPATION.

I used to feel quite superior and write in "Domestic Engineer."

I got tired of that and started writing in what I am most proud of in my life - MOMMY. Not mother, that indicates that you gave birth, but I write MOMMY, in capital letters. It's a title that indicates I roll in the grass, play dolls and Legos, beat them in Candy Land, rollerblade, jump on tramp, jump on the bed with them (OK, only at hotels) and have bubble-blowing contests. I am a Mommy and thankful to the Lord for giving me the desires of my heart - six kids. In that two inch line, I am making a statement that I have chosen being a MOMMY as my career.

Others don't see that. Months ago, I was annoyed when I received the hospital copy of my new patient form. They changed my MOMMY to UNEMPLOYED.

Unemployed indicates that once I was employed and now I am not. I am not receiving job offers or being asked to update my resume. If I am now unemployed, where are my benefits? I would love to receive monthly financial reimbursement for my unemployment.

I am certainly not sitting around idle, I work longer hours than "employed" people who work 9-5.

Just to make sure I wasn't making a big deal out of nuttin', I checked the definition of unemployment online.

un⋅em⋅ployed [uhn-em-ploid]

1. not employed; without a job; out of work: an unemployed secretary.
2. not currently in use: unemployed productive capacity.
3. not productively used: unemployed capital.
4. people who do not have jobs

Pasted from <http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/unemployed>


I was RIGHT! Unemployed indicates you don't have a job, you are not currently in use. I hardly have a moment when I am NOT in use. In fact, no hour is sacred to a needy child. In addition to being on-call all day long, I am called on through all hours of the night to help kids throw up, stop bloody noses, change sheets for an accident and calm fears after a horrible dream. Aren't I productive? I have wiped more noses and bottoms than the average person, wiped up gallons of spilled milk and wiped more boogers off the wall than I wish to admit.

Unemployed, huh? They may say my CAREER choice isn't one of their listed options, but I think they opt not to list my career.

So, I write it in big, capital letters.

M-O-M-M-Y