The Grass is Greener - Guest Post

Hello all! Big thanks to Mama G for letting me guest while she's busy moving. My name is Jenn and I blog over at Pdx Momma. I blog about photography, healthy living and weightloss (I try), my son Ozzie, and living in the rainiest place on the planet... Portland, OR. That's a slight exaggeration, but if you lived here you would understand. Hope to see some of you join in the fun over at my place sometime soon!

For the last 3 months I have been a stay at home mom... against my will. No seriously, I got laid off in August and haven't had much choice but to take little man out of daycare. I recently accepted a new position (THANK GOD) and started my new job on 11/22. I wanted to share what I learned during the last 3 months. A little something I like to call "The grass is always greener".

I was never that mom sat at work all day wishing I could stay at home. I always knew that I wasn't cut out for it. I also knew we cannot afford it. I like working. I love helping folks and in my line of work (HR) I get to do that. I need to be intellectually stimulated. That didn't stop me from being secretly jealous of my friends that did stay at home full time. Not everyday, but on the days that I was stressed out and hating my job, yes. Reality hit me smack in the face on 8/14 when I got the news I was being laid off. Be careful what you wish for Jenn. 24 hours a day with my 18 month old. Sh*t. This was gonna be rough.

Turns out I am a pretty good SAHM mom though. The house wasn't clean everyday, I definitely had my share of evenings at Happy Hour as soon as Hubs got home, and I did wanna sell his whiney butt a LOT OF DAYS. But then we had days like this:

... and this...

He even helped with the cleaning...

When I look at these photos I am already nostalgic. Kind of like childbirth, doesn't take long to forget the pain and make you wanna do it all over again. OK no, just kidding. I had 30 hours of labor, with 2 failed epidurals, and an emergency C-Section. I haven't forgotten that sh*t yet. 

Where was I... oh yeah. Being a SAHM vs a Workin Momma. A friend of mine is having a hard time with her return to work after having her (surprise!) 3rd kiddo. She posted to Facebook asking "For those of you that work, would you change it and stay home? Help me make peace with this decision." I feel for her. I know exactly how great and how utterly frustrating it can be to be home all day it was for me. It really got me thinking. I find it so interesting how different our views were. I was sitting home begging to go back to work. She was sitting at work longing to be a SAHM.

Well, I am happy to have had the opportunity to know for a FACT that I do prefer to work. I appreciate my time with him so much more, we can pay the bills, and I feel completely satisfied.  Now if I can just talk my boss into letting me work 3.5 days a week, that would be PERFECT. Oh and remind me on the tough days that I do not wanna switch back!

Do you stay at home or work? Would you prefer the other?

Come visit and follow along at Pdx Momma!