You made me remember my story. We decided to have me stay at home when our baby was born. I was a pregnant, we lived on two incomes, and I was the one that carried the insurance. I agreed, however after the baby was born I was scared to death. How would we do it? What about insurance with a new baby?? I stuck to it, and two weeks before my maternity leave was up, we paid for one month of insurance and I put in my notice.
I doubted myself every step of the way, even thought about keeping the letter, acting like it got lost in the mail and going back to work. I was scared to death to not work, and live on one income. I didn't deceive my husband though, and went through with it. Hardest thing I have ever done in my life. We had to cut back so much! He worked many long hours to support us, and we used a christian based sharing plan for insurance. That scared me too. How would I know to make the right decisions? Where would we get the money to pay the bill until the checks from other members came in? I was so stressed.
Plus, I felt like I lost my identity when I quit to stay at home... I was so wrapped up in "what I did for a living" that I didn't realize I was taking on a new job. I felt like a failure, like I was nothing.
However, God watched all this and helped. My husband was offered a new job a few years later (yeah, we had to scrimp and save a LOT for a long time), and he was making twice what he made before! We now are breathing again. I would redo it all in a heartbeat though! It was worth it to stay home with my baby!
Please don't send your newborn child off to be raised by anyone else. Please don't hear the funny stories of what your kid has done from a note sent home, if they even remember to tell you. Please don't miss the milestones! Please don't let them light up when the see a stranger instead of you in the morning! Please figure out how to make it work! Give up the extra car, boat, or big house. Give up the nice car for one that looks terrible but gets you where you want to go. My crappy, dented van had a broken drivers door so I had to go in and out through the back slider door. It would also lock and unlock the doors whenever it wanted to, and the passenger window wouldn't stay shut so I duct taped it. I joked that I would come back from the downtown zoo and someone would feel so bad for me driving that car they would leave $20 on the dash!
Just take care of this baby that God is entrusting with you, not with anyone else. Your baby can't talk... what will you do if when you leave they put your baby in a corner all day, and you don't know? Sure they're nice when you drop them off, but you don't know what is going on when you aren't there. I was always so afraid of that. I swore I wouldn't even use a baby sitter until my kid could talk and tell me what went on. Please, you care for your baby more than any stranger or family friend would. See this as a sign that you need to make it work!!! God is talking to you!!
You made me remember my story. We decided to have me stay at home when our baby was born. I was a pregnant, we lived on two incomes, and I was the one that carried the insurance. I agreed, however after the baby was born I was scared to death. How would we do it? What about insurance with a new baby?? I stuck to it, and two weeks before my maternity leave was up, we paid for one month of insurance and I put in my notice.
I doubted myself every step of the way, even thought about keeping the letter, acting like it got lost in the mail and going back to work. I was scared to death to not work, and live on one income. I didn't deceive my husband though, and went through with it. Hardest thing I have ever done in my life. We had to cut back so much! He worked many long hours to support us, and we used a christian based sharing plan for insurance. That scared me too. How would I know to make the right decisions? Where would we get the money to pay the bill until the checks from other members came in? I was so stressed.
Plus, I felt like I lost my identity when I quit to stay at home... I was so wrapped up in "what I did for a living" that I didn't realize I was taking on a new job. I felt like a failure, like I was nothing.
However, God watched all this and helped. My husband was offered a new job a few years later (yeah, we had to scrimp and save a LOT for a long time), and he was making twice what he made before! We now are breathing again. I would redo it all in a heartbeat though! It was worth it to stay home with my baby!
Please don't send your newborn child off to be raised by anyone else. Please don't hear the funny stories of what your kid has done from a note sent home, if they even remember to tell you. Please don't miss the milestones! Please don't let them light up when the see a stranger instead of you in the morning! Please figure out how to make it work! Give up the extra car, boat, or big house. Give up the nice car for one that looks terrible but gets you where you want to go. My crappy, dented van had a broken drivers door so I had to go in and out through the back slider door. It would also lock and unlock the doors whenever it wanted to, and the passenger window wouldn't stay shut so I duct taped it. I joked that I would come back from the downtown zoo and someone would feel so bad for me driving that car they would leave $20 on the dash!
Just take care of this baby that God is entrusting with you, not with anyone else. Your baby can't talk... what will you do if when you leave they put your baby in a corner all day, and you don't know? Sure they're nice when you drop them off, but you don't know what is going on when you aren't there. I was always so afraid of that. I swore I wouldn't even use a baby sitter until my kid could talk and tell me what went on. Please, you care for your baby more than any stranger or family friend would. See this as a sign that you need to make it work!!! God is talking to you!!