How Staying Home Makes Cents
It wasn't until after the birth of my second child that my husband and I decided I would stay at home with the kids instead of working outside the home. It was a difficult decision at first, but I wouldn't change a thing now! I have been able to be there when the kids are sick without feeling guilty about where I should be -- home or work. I also have had the opportunity to homeschool my school age daughter. Since that time I have come across different articles and opinions on where the mother of the house should be. I thought you might get some appreciation for the article below, especially if you are dealing with this question right now.
-- June Kolf
(Reprinted from Pulpit Helps)
I began thinking about going back to work the day my youngest child entered school. Most of my friends were working, and I felt guilty about having so much free time at home. But more importantly, I asked, shouldn't I be contributing financially to our family?
So I settled into a half-time job at a nearby preschool. I thoroughly enjoyed it. But it seemed the mornings I worked were always when one of the children woke up with a runny nose or fever. I would have to find a substitute teacher, leave my child at home alone or send her to school sick.
Even if one of the children wasn't sick, I found I could no longer attend school activities during the day. There was no time to bake cookies for the PTA meetings or sew robes for the youth choir. I was continually having to refuse tasks I had previously enjoyed.
My husband listened to my tales of woe as long as he could, then suggested I quit my job.
"I'll bet with a little ingenuity you could save more money at home than you're now earning," he challenged me. Never one to turn down a challenge, I handed in my resignation at the end of the school year.
That summer, I cam across Proverbs 31:10-31, a survey of the tasks a truly fine wife performs. The writer states that she weaves and sews and purchases food for her family. "She looketh well to the ways of her household, and eateth not the bread of idleness" (verse 27).
This quieted my guilt about staying home. I could be fulfilled working where my heart was.
I soon found I was able to save a considerable amount of money on groceries. No longer needing to use prepared items, I could buy less expensive cuts of meat to marinate or cook slowly. I had time to study the sales and could go to several grocery stores instead of rushing through a single one each week. I could plan carefully and buy in quantity. All this took extra time, but time was what I had.
I had time to sew again. Children's clothing takes such small amounts of fabric that I would often use only remnants. I was amazed at the little tops and skirts I could make for the summer months that cost only pennies. I noticed how clothing and food prices varied greatly from store to store, so I took the time to shop around and gained a reputation for bargain hunting.
In the summer I picked fruit from local orchards and made enough jam to last the year. I planted a garden and canned my own tomatoes. Turning on the stereo and working in the kitchen sink, I scrubbed, chopped and filled containers with produce I had either picked or grown myself. When I was finished, I would proudly look at the colorful jars neatly lined in a row.
I was able to make most of my Christmas and holiday gifts. With so many of my friends back at work, handcrafted or baked items became more valued and appreciated. I even make our own family Christmas cards.
I had time to shop at garage sales. I had time to bake birthday cakes, weed the garden, wash the car and clean the house-things I had been paying to have done when I was employed.
When the final tally came in and I took into account the taxes I'd paid the year before, the babysitters I'd had to hire and the extra clothes my job had required, I was actually saving a considerable amount of money by staying at home! To that add the benefits of choosing my own daily tasks, having no boss to report to and being available at all times for my children or for lunch with my husband. I could nap in the afternoon after a sleepless night, take unlimited sick leave and sport a suntan from working in the yard.
Twelve years have now passed. I look back with pleasure on the thirty costumes I made for the talent show, the countless number of formals I made for my daughters and the Mason jars I repeatedly filled. I have been able to sneak in visits to convalescent homes, do volunteer work and begin free-land writing.
When I turn the pages of our family albums, I have to smile at the picture of my three children with chocolate frosting all over their faces from the time we decorated cookies together. My form of Social Security is not measured in dollars and cents, but, as the woman of Proverbs 31, in deeds.
Yes, I realize my choice is not for every woman. But I'm proud to call myself a housewife--especially since I proved that it does make cents.
