Stay At Home Parents and The Issues
The Struggle Is Real
For some, it is still considered a new thing for Dad’s to stay at home with the kids. Others are more than familiar with it. Nowadays, most parenting couples both work to make their monthly nut but in some cases some families are lucky enough to have a single provider who can bring home the bacon. When that happens, somebody has to stay home and watch the kids, and there are struggles with it. Although this site is more for the “dad’s” I feel this article is more any stay-at-home parent and the struggles they face. If you are the stay-at-home parent hopefully you can find something in this article that will help you through your day.
Keep Organized
Some large hurdles for parents is just filling the day…it can be a long day if you are scrambling to keep your kids busy. Imagine 12 hours of improvising but the repercussion of failure is crying small children screaming at you for not entertaining them enough…that is a tough day. Get yourself organized. Get a planner or something and make a Monday through Friday type of schedule. Mondays: we rock play-doh and park time. Tuesday and massive amounts of arts and crafts Wednesday, cry a little bit because you have watched Paw Patrol for the 100th time…that day. Regardless, it is good to have somethings prepared for your kids so you can keep them occupied and keep yourself sane.
Identity Crisis
Like most people, sometimes work becomes who you are as a person. It is where you spend most of your time and the see your co-workers the most out of anyone in your life. The same can be said about the stay-at-home parent. It is hard to separate yourself from your life at home, especially when it is where you are supposed to be free from your daily “9-5”. Not having the escape like most people who weork have can cause some stress on you as a person. That is why it is important for you to find yourself some “me” time away from the house and kids. I know that it is difficult to do, and you do not have to do it every day because honestly who has time right? But try to get yourself away from your “work” at least for an hour a week if you can. It will help with your mental and emotional strain that is the everyday life of a stay-at-home parent.
Stay Away From Social Media
Do not feel as if you are a bad parent because you watched somebody online do crazy stuff to keep their kids entertained. They are doing it for money… I am not saying that all YouTube videos of parents showing off the “how to” stuff are all about trying to make you feel bad or anything, but please remember that those videos are designed to be ‘perfect’ and show that you can do it. It is true, you can, but let me tell you why anybody who posts anything online does it….because of money. Hell, my whole website is literally designed to bring in money for myself. It is what we do in the online world nowadays. Still, if you feel like you aren’t as good as people you see online, I would not be worried about it. Those people yell and scream at their kids just like the rest of us, and they do fail the same as everyone else too.
Feeling Alone
In the same vein as the previous paragraph, it is easy to feel isolated and alone in the stay-at-home parent world. I have lost myself in baby talk and forgetting what the real world is like sometimes. Sometimes you feel as if your partner doesn’t understand what you are going through and honestly it’s because they don’t. They are working in an adult environment, and you are in a child like environment all day. It is hard to explain. Find yourself a group of stay-at-home parents to set up playdates for your kids AND for yourself. Just simple interactions with people above the age of 2 will help you mentally and emotionally. It is hard to ask for help sometimes but do yourself a favor and do it.
Accept That Life Has Changed
You are not 20 years old anymore with no responsibilities. You have children and they should be about 99% of your focus for a time. It will feel like you are bound and shackled sometimes. You will get mad about it. That is fine. Expressing yourself is not a bad thing. Just accept that things have changed for the time being. Getting used to having your own money and identity being taken away from you can feel awful and completely terrifying, but that is not the case. It will feel like that for sure, but you are currently pivoting your responsibilities is all. Your life will come back to what you think it should be, but you are in a spot where your child needs your support and pretty much 24/7 care. That shit is haaaaaaaaaaaaard. Develop a new life now (obviously easier said than done). You can still have fun. You just need to find a balance in your life..at first it’s pretty much 100% kid.. but it will get more and more centered. Time will heal all wounds.
