Finding Purpose As a Stay At Home Mom — Meet Taru
Stay at home moms get so much, but rarely will they tell you that they get to have it all. It’s a challenging life, being someone’s caregiver full time. Many stay at home moms find that they struggle with a loss of personal identity and purpose.
Taru had never planned on having kids before she met her husband, but love changed her mind.
“I never was one of those girls who dreamed about being a mom. But [when] I met my husband, it all of a sudden felt natural and [was] something we both wanted.”
“For me, the biggest adjustment was definitely the quick shift of being all kinds of things — like a blogger and having a career — to all of a sudden being a stay at home mom for the first 1.5 years of our daughter’s life.”
The Days That Drift Together
According to an analysis of US Census Bureau data by Pew Research, about one in five US parents don’t work outside the home. While numbers for stay at home dads have seen a steady increase in recent years, stay at home mom numbers are stagnating — more and more moms are re-entering the workforce after baby.
And we’re cool with that. So cool with that.
But when your primary responsibility becomes caring for a tiny human who’s still developing a capacity for empathy and appreciation, it wears on you, and one day starts to bleed into the next.
A 2012 Gallup poll showed that stay at home moms were more likely to struggle with anger and depression than working mothers, and that low income mothers struggled more than anyone.
Bringing Back the Identity of the Stay at Home Mom
One of the most common struggles for stay at home moms is the feeling of not being seen or feeling like their own person. Spending all day with kids can be isolating. Many moms struggle to find the time and motivation to be someone other than a caregiver.
“The biggest struggle is to take time to take care of myself,” says Taru. “To be a good mom, you also have to remember to take care of yourself.”
With the emergence of opportunities in online business and social networking, many moms have created businesses they can run from home. This source of satisfaction and purpose isn’t just uplifting for morale — many moms are building highly lucrative careers from these ‘side hustles’.
Taru is one such mom, with a passion for blogging and social media marketing.
“I’m a very visual person and a bit of a tech nerd. I’m very into blogging, social media marketing and all that. In my spare time I blog and run a few Instagram accounts.”
Hobbies, careers, even finding playgroups online — the research shows that moms who make time for social interaction and endeavors outside of parenting are happier and more content in their roles.
“I’ve learned how to better manage my time and also do things that interest me on a professional level.”
The Grass Is Pretty Damned Green
Though stay at home moms face challenges unique to their roles in American households, there’s no arguing that parts of this lifestyle are pretty sweet.
“The best thing about being a stay at home mom is being so involved with my kids’ lives. I get to see all the growth and development and see them shape into these amazing little humans.”
While society can be blamed for underestimating the workload of a modern stay at home mom, Taru and other moms like her are proving that you can be there for your kids, and be there for yourself, too.
What Taru wants more than anything else for Mother’s Day?
A card from the kids <3
