Aasiya I Versi

My boss is a funny creature. She’s half my size and walks around like she owns the place. I don’t commute to work, and I am fully – as in 24/7- dedicated to my job.

My boss occasionally kicks and screams when she doesn’t get her way, which is hilarious as it is disturbing. I love my chosen vocation – I’m a stay at home and proud of it.

My mother stayed at home when I was growing up and my husband’s mother did the same. Both of us wanted the same for Nabeelah and couldn’t imagine it any other way. I empathize with mothers who need to go back due to financial or other reasons, it must be a very difficult juggle.

However, I find it hard to swallow when my peers feel that staying at home is an easier option. It’s just as hard and draining — with no end in sight — and only the strong belief that this is the best for my child keeps me going

Going to work with its set predictable routine and monthly paycheques is a world apart from what it is like staying at home…There is no predictability; you find yourself in a continuous auto-clean mode, no monthly mother appreciation day or even an end of the day guaranteed hug.

The shift from a working woman to a stay at home mother has been one of the biggest changes in my life, and by far the most peaceful decision I have made to date.

I have realised children do not wait for us to grow up; they do so with or without our presence. And it is precious time and moments – that ultimately makes children worth having – that you miss out when work beckons. Quality time is not something that can be scheduled. It comes and goes with no rhyme or rhythm. It’s like gold-digging, you’ll get minuscule amounts in a greater amount of mud.

Although I miss out on the solid clear-cut outcomes of the working world, staying at home gives me the blessing of unhurried time with Nabeelah. I strongly feel children need our time, lots of it, and I, as her mother, am in a position to unconditionally give time, love and education that no other person can. I wish to maximise on that fact, knowing I have limited time before she heads out to school and the big bad world without me by her side.

I understand that financial situations of our time require more and more women to head back to work, but as a mother, I’m holding tight to this exclusive time with Nabeelah in her first few formative years. I strongly feel that the benefits of mothers staying at home for their children, although intangible far outweighs the benefits of mothers returning to work.