Ramos, Inc.

I am a mom. I am a Stay-At-Home-Mom. I am a homemaker. I run a household and parent a child. I am CFO, CEO, and President of Ramos, Inc!

I'll be the first to admit. I thought being a SAHM (stay at home mom) would be a snap. Take care of the baby. Do some laundry, cook some dinner, and keep the house tidy. I've run a business with 25 employees, hell I've even owned my own business. How hard can being a "housewife" be? Truthfully, it's the hardest job I've ever had.

SAHMers vs Working Moms has been an ongoing mommy point of contention ever since June Cleaver threw in her dish cloth. "It's anti-family to work!" or "It's anti-feminist to stay home!" And there's no right answer to this parenting dilemma. It's a matter of personal choice, of what serves you and your family best. But I do believe that some people who have never tried to be a SAHM - especially men - still think we moms sit around watching soaps all day. I can tell you, at least in my case, I have no time for soaps.

My husband Jon works a lot of hours and has a long commute, so when he walks out the door, he's gone. There's no stopping in to say hi, or running to the grocery store on his lunch break. There are days when the dog and Jon Jon are my only conversation pals. But these are the choices we made to allow us to have one parent at home and one working. See now, there even I said it. I'm not "working". But you know - I am working. I am working very hard and I hate saying "I'm not working." or "I'm doing the mom thing." "I'm staying home." I got up this morning at 5:30 just so I cold enjoy my morning tea on my "work break".

When you are a SAHM, you are always ON. There's no putting the baby down and then popping out for lunch, or doing a little shopping. You're on call all day. And then somehow in that day you try and do laundry, clean the house, pay the bills, water the gardens, balance the checkbook (yeah, right), cook some dinner, go to the store, the post office, everywhere with baby in tow. And if you're lucky, you'll find 10 minutes to sit outside in the sun and enjoy your new copy of Vogue - which so doesn't apply to you anymore, as you are still in your bathrobe at 2pm. I never imagined how challenging it would be. And there are days when I want to hide from it all. But what I hate most, is that it makes me feel like a cliche - of that housewife who is exhausted and ragged by the end of the day.

But most days I completely love it, and feel lucky that I get to do it. I get to see Jon Jon through every emotion that crosses his little face. I get to laugh with him, and make funny faces and let him help me cook, as I put the Bumbo on the kitchen counter. I get to take him for walks. I get to watch him taste green beans for the first time. I'm there for it all, and I don't have to worry about leaving him with anyone else to do all those things for him. Have we had to make changes in our life to live on one salary? Yes. And they are the best changes we've ever made.

I wish there was a different way to say, stay-at-home-mom. When people now ask me what I do, saying "I'm a mom" always makes me feel like I need to explain what I was doing before, and what kind of careers I've had in the past. And maybe that's my own hang-up about stepping away from a traditional career path. But I really don't think that people give SAHMs the credit they deserve. I know that before I had Jon Jon, I certainly didn't. One day when Jon Jon was about 6 weeks old, and big Jon watched him for a whole day, while I took a day to myself, he said to me, "This is hard! I don't know how you get anything done around here!" And you know what I said? "Thank you." And then I think I cried a little, being the hormonal post-partum mess that I was. But that was the best compliment I ever received. And it made me ready, once again, to face a day at Ramos, Inc. with a smile. :)