Family Time Disappearing

I have been doing some soul searching lately and it just amazes me how we have all forgotten how important families are. Oh sure we hear "my family comes first" but does it really?? I recently read that the mall wants to open their doors on New Years Day. Forget it!!

I lost my job due to budget cuts sometime ago. My spouse works out of town and that doesn't allow him much family time. In the meantime most jobs offer minimum wage and part time.........have you tried to feed, cloth, and shelter a family on that?? Not to mention all the other costs schools ask for.

We decided to get rid of cable, internet, the daily paper, go to one car (we live in an area with no transit), hang the clothes to dry in the basement. Kids have two pairs of pants and a few shirts and a good winter coat - not a closet full of clothes anymore.

All so I could be a stay at home mom for the first time after being a mom for over 15 years. Since I have been home, my children are now honour students, read at least two hours a day, have built a fort out in the bush, we sewed their Halloween customers (teaching them how to sew), we now eat full home made dinners - not M&M meats (teaching the kids how to measure and use a cookbook). Our children have grown socially - they are not home alone all the time for I used to work 70 hours a week and never got the weekends off.

I too have grown. I do a huge amount of service work in our community while the kids are in school and home when they get home. And their friends all now hang here due to there is an adult around!!!!!! I just sewed with the neighborhood kids for their Halloween costumes.

What amazes me is the attitude of people when I say I have chosen to put my career on the back burner and enjoy my teenagers for they will be leaving the nest soon and I have never had the opportunity to be home. I now understand the challenges stay at home moms face......we are not lazy, we do not sit and eat chocolate and watch soap operas all day long.

I get phone calls from friends saying so and so is hiring........I think it is time this city be the first city to stand up and say no to shopping on stats, lets set an example to our country that our family does come first. I am a professional health care worker and have never ever had Christmas off (this will be my first off)......that is different for we can not shut the doors on hospitals, senior homes, fire department, police stations. BUT there are ones we can control...........and lets start by stopping being greedy for money and start remembering what is really important and prove it by our actions.

Stay at home moms are very important to our society.......a job that has no salary, no benefits, no pension........where are we going wrong???

B.M.