There is a poem by Robert Frost, "The Road Not Taken". This poem has always sort of been a rule that I try to live by, to not always take the road that looks easy, or that the majority would choose because of the ease and popularity. The final lines read like this, "Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference."
This summer my husband and I have decided to take a giant leap of faith, and take the road less traveled. We have decided that I will stay home to be a mama to our son and soon to come baby girl. This choice may not seem so "untraveled". But I feel like in this world driven by money and consumerism, that many may feel like we are making an impractical and poor decision. We will be burdened financially. We will sacrifice many tangible pleasures. We will not be able to buy extras, we won't be able to go out to eat, we may go without some things that we "need". This will be hard. But I firmly believe that we can live with less. Since I became pregnant with our baby boy, the nesting instinct spurred a purging/living simpler spark and it has been burning ever since. So - I am hoping that as a stay at home mama, I can maximize what we have to obtain all that we need. We will shop at ALDI! We will GROW A GARDEN for fresh veggies. We may even get some backyard chickens for FRESH EGGS! (we go through tons of eggs) I will cook REAL food and feel good about what I am giving my family. We will live SIMPLY and we will be happy!
See, I am viewing this decision as an exciting lifestyle change. This is our chance as a family to live simple and live a meaningful life. I will not be working every day just so that I can pay for someone else to take care of my child. We will teach our children, we will share experiences with our children and we will raise them in a home with God, family, and the necessities of life. Traveling this road will be difficult, but I believe that for my family, it will make all the difference.
(PS... just want to throw out there that this is a decision that is the right one for our family - I am in no way trying to diss those families/mamas that do work - up until last month I worked. We all have to do what we feel is right for our personal lives/families lives.)
