I’m a 31 year old mom of three. I clean, cook, and I’m very frugal. I don’t regret not starting my career at age 22.

The topic of stay at home moms vs. working moms has been all over the media these past months. On one hand, there’s a lot of people expressing gratitude for stay-at-home parents due to the current COVID-19 disaster where parents are still working from home while having to deal with their kids home all day. On the other hand, there are those excruciating interviews of working moms juggling two jobs who don’t have time to clean the house because of the extra work hours. I feel like I need to say something. <br><br>I’ve never understood why some moms (or dads) never get to spend time with their children, protect their marriage, cook nutritious meals, and take care of their home. To maintain this life, I do have to make these personal sacrifices. On the weekends we don’t go to church or have any extra-circular activities for our children. We stay home and do chores. This way, we don’t have to hire cleaning services, landscaping, childcare, car washes, etc. I don’t have a gym membership, personal training, or nutritionists. To get everything done, we work out at night once the kids are in bed. I don’t need a personal trainer, because there are plenty of workouts on YouTube that we can follow together. I also don’t need nutritionists. I subscribe to some cooking channels online, and my husband and I prep our meals for the week. <br><br>While I know there is a lot of women who have stories of not having a choice, I don’t feel like all these women who are juggling work and extra circular activities for their children don’t also have a choice. I am very confident in saying that we all have a choice. Either be a working mom or a stay-at-home mom. There is nothing wrong with working moms. I’m just uninformed as to why they would want to give their lives to something else other than their marriage or their children. I would prefer to be dirty poor and live in a junkie neighborhood than work 60+ hours a week and travel a lot for my career. At the end of my life, I want to look back and see that I lived for my family, and spent an enormous amount of time on them. When I was growing up as a child, my parents worked a lot and I didn’t know them until I was much older. I want to be there for my children and actually be their parents. Something like that cannot be put into a price tag, so I’m willing to sacrifice whatever it takes to give them that life. <br><br>&#x200B;<br><br>Edit: 1) I am married to my high school sweetheart and we have been together for 11 years. 2) I am frugal, but my husband is not. As long as he makes a lot of money and is able to provide for us, I will continue to do my part to save as much as possible. Try living on $8 for a day as an adult, and tell me how frugal your husband can be. 3) I have a degree in journalism and have worked full-time. I know what it’s like to be a working parent. I made that choice when my kids were young. 4) To the people who think my kids are missing out on socializing, swim practice, volleyball practices, etc. My children are not the problem. It’s the other kids. If I trusted every parent out there to raise their kids right and didn’t have a problem sending my children to public school or to play soccer or volleyball, I would do it in a second. But I don’t trust people, and I don’t want my children to be influenced by people I don’t approve of. 5) Yes, I do follow a routine. My kids are small. I have a four year old, two year old, and 6 month old. I can only imagine how much harder it’s going to be when they’re older. Might as well start now. 6) My husband does a tremendous amount of work, and he’s really good at it. It doesn’t matter how good I am at cleaning and cooking. He has the better job, and he works a lot. 7) Yes, I do make time for myself. During nap time, instead of cleaning I usually take a nap or read. I don’t mind that my life is boring. I am content. 8) I would not judge anyone for working. It’s your life. Live it how you want. 9) I had help when my kids were very young. My parents stayed over at our house for a few months. 10) Yes, I would hire someone if I needed someone. However, I don’t need someone. I can manage the workload. Thanks for the advice.