SAHM

I'm currently reading the book, Flight Behavior, by Barbara Kingsolver. The main character is a stay-at-home-mom, and the book includes a few well-written, incredibly insightful sentences describing what life is like for her. Kingsolver writes, "...being a stay-at-home-mom is the lonliest kind of lonely, in which she was always and never by herself." (p. 59) and "...motherhood, with its routine costs of providing a largesse that outstripped her physical dimensions." (p. 60), and "A gut-twisting life of love, consecrated by the roof and walls that contained her and the air she was given to breathe." (p. 60).

This part of the book hit a nerve for me, in the most raw way. The decision to become (and to continue to be) a stay-at-home-mom, is one that I made/make without hesitation. And while there are many days that I wish I were working, I'm confident that I would make the same decision again. But it honestly can be a very lonely life, sometimes feeling as though these walls contain me, and what I breathe is only my particular allotment of air for that day! I'm thankful for these images from Barbara Kingsolver, because they somehow make me feel understood. I feel as though someone sees me. I try to keep the big picture in perspective. I know that I am in a particular stage of life. These lonely times won't last forever. Sometimes, though, the daily grind of this "gut-twisting life of love", becomes a little overwhelming. I write these words for other stay-at-home-moms to say, "I see you. I love you. You are not alone."