I am a Stay at Home Mom and, yes, I do work

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Below is a letter from Stay at Home Mom Britney Dickens that she shared with us recently:

I work 12+ hour shifts as a house cleaner, chef (meaning not only cook the food but I make the recipe on the menu), nutritionist, childcare provider, nurse, teacher, and counselor all in one day. I do this seven days a week, consistently. I do this for free, I volunteer this time and have done this for 3 years straight. Now I work double-time and have done this for 16 months. 
I've had people tell me I can't keep a job, but I think what I do is harder than what you do, by far. If you walked a day in my shoes, you would be sore, aching, and most likely had enough of it. Now I will be doing school at night as well as a f/t online student. I work 12+ hours a day as 7 different job titles + more, without pay. I volunteer my time....why the heck would I do this? Because I am a stay at home mom - a homemaker. 
I love my children enough to dedicate my life to them, free of charge. I work 3x as hard as you, for no money, because of love. Because I can. I work AT LEAST 12 hours >every< day, with no pay. I choose this because I would rather raise my kids and know they are being brought up correctly than pay some stranger to do it for me. 
In this 12 hour + day, I get no breaks. I work whether or not I'm sick, I work whether or not you realize it. So before you tell a mother who stays at home with their children that they don't work or don't do enough, keep in mind what we ACTUALLY do for our children and family. Keep in mind that we work at least 12 hours a day, no breaks, whether or not we are sick, seven days a week, relentlessly, for free....because we love, and I love, the children made and provided for. 
Being a mother is harder than you realize. Giving up is much easier. It takes strength and perseverance to not give up and to keep pushing. So before you doubt why I do what I do and don't go off and get a job in the meantime of graduation, it is because I love my children and want them raised right... because if I do get a job before a degree, I will literally be working to pay childcare and have maybe $100 left over, IF that. So I choose to work 3x more than you because I love what I do, for who I do it for.


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