Being a stay at home parent is not a luxury or "the easy life."

I work hard every day to do this. It's my career choice. And I do get a paycheck. It's the same one my husband works hard out of the home to get. I know folks that work out of the home work super hard and make tremendous sacrifices to provide a good life for their families. I give out of the home careers props all day long and extras on the weekend. How could the economy run without those jobs? It's a necessary component in this world that I'm grateful people go do.

But the deal is, I deserve respect too for equally hard work I do and the (different) sacrifices I make. THIS IS A CAREER TOO.

Why do folks that pay tons of money to have people take care of their children talk to me like what I do is easy? Do they think the folks that care for their children have easy jobs? If that was true, why is childcare so expensive? Or is it that they believe my kids just have sub-par childcare from me and would be better off with professional caregivers?

I'm also tired of folks saying, "Well, what a luxury it is that you can afford to stay home." Luxury? My clothes come from Walmart and Target. And they have to last a LONG time. My children get consignment store clothes, and hand-me-downs from friends and family make me dance like I've hit the lottery.

We drive 7-10 year old cars. That new kitchen the neighbor put in that looks so fantastic? I'll get one, but it's going to take us 5 years to save for it.

Anything we buy new, we've planned and saved for weeks or months and it also means that something else probably got postponed on the priority list. Sharing one income means no impulse buying in our household. Zero tolerance policy on it here.

So that's the honest truth......we live on a lot less than many people to have me stay home to work. That's the sacrifice Buzzkill and I make to have careers we both want to do.

I LOVE my life and have all my needs met. I'm also really grateful to be aware of the difference between my wants and needs.

PLEASE, stop acting like I've got a free pass on hard work. If I don't do my job, the consequences are exactly the same as everyone else - we go broke, we can't pay bills or eat food.

And also, sorry for the ranting, but I figured over here I could vent without starting huge drama on Facebook.