Busy days for stay-at-home mom
Kerry McCluskey
Northern News Services
Iqaluit (Nov 13/00) - Monday mornings are hard for most of us.
As we wipe the vestiges of weekend pleasure from our eyes, it always seems a little harder to find matching socks, pack a lunch and generally be out the door on time.
But, when Heather Omilgoitok left the world of the paid workforce for the oft undervalued realm of the stay-at-home mom, her Monday morning stress level plummeted.
Most impressive given that Omilgoitok still has four children -- ranging in age from 18-months to 18-years -- living in the nest.
"It's a morning routine to get everyone ready," she said.
"I don't have to go out the door to go to work. I can putter in my pyjamas and that takes the stress off. I have the morning to get organized," she said.
Omilgoitok explained that when she and her partner began their family, they realized it was important for one parent to stay at home. Her husband's salary permitted the pair the luxury of foregoing a paycheque and Omilgoitok traded in her keyboard for an ironing board and a diaper pail.
Ten years later, she said she still revels in her work as a stay-at-home mom.
"When Danielle does something really cute, I think I'm so lucky to be able to enjoy that," she said.
"If I was at work, someone else would get that moment and when it's gone, it's gone."
The 34-year old matriarch said she'd taught herself this past year that falling behind in the housework wasn't necessarily a character flaw and that what was important in her vital role was that she and her family were happy.
"I think it's important for the children to have a stable base. They need somebody there at the end of the day and it makes them feel safer," she said.
And while she misses the social contact and what some refer to as the drudgery of paid work, Omilgoitok said the choice to stay at home was an easy one for her to make. No specific career in the works when she left the paid sector, she said she always knew she'd end up at home.
"It's hard for some people to make that choice, but I always knew one day I'd stay home and have kids," she said.
"Maybe it was because of my mom. She did it and she was my role model."
As for the myth of the soap-opera addicted mom, Omilgoitok said it was just that. She also said it irked her when people didn't give her job the respect it deserved.
"I say, 'I'm a mom and I always feel like I have to expand on that. You shouldn't have to say anything else. That says it all.'"
