Stay-at-Home Mom? Or Career?

When people discover that I majored in Electrical Engineering, they appear to be shocked. Let’s keep it real here, there aren’t too many female engineers (although that number is rising quickly), let alone African-American women engineers. I am glad to be in that small percentage, I am also proud to be a stay-at-home mom. Engineering is black and white. You pretty much know how your day will be. Being a stay-at-home mom is the complete opposite. Mixing 3 different personalities …. you never know what kind of day you’re going to have. I often joke with people by saying I have 5 kids if you include my husband and the dog.

Why did I choose engineering?

Well I was always curious. Just like any other child, I would question my parents about how things worked. Mine was to a different degree though. I LOVED math and science and knew that was area that I wanted to work in daily. I decided my junior year of high school that I wanted to become a computer engineer. I didn’t want a job that everyone else had.

 

As I entered my major, at The Florida State University, I realized that computer engineering wasn’t my thing. I hated the programming portion of it. I seriously wanted to pull my hair out every time I had to write code. I was this?? close to changing my major. I had a loooooot if days of crying and lost sleep. I even had a counselor (who clearly a prick) that tried to talk me into changing my major. He asked me “Are you sure you don’t want to try nursing?”. Unbelievable right!? Well come to find out, based on my “test scores” I was placed in classes without the proper pre-requisites. Hence, me struggling!!! At any rate, I felt as though I had a goal to meet and a point to prove to my ignorant counselor. I then discovered the love of circuits and dealing with hardware. That helped land me in the area of electrical engineering. Thanks “counselor”! ?

Why did I choose to be a stay-at-home mom?

The answer is simple … I wanted to raise my own kids. I’m not a fan of daycare. I don’t think families spend enough time with their kids as it is. I always told myself that if my husband and I could afford for me to stay home with our kids then that’s what I would do. To be honest, I didn’t want Xiomara in preschool until she could talk. Therefore, she started when she turned two. Of course she wasn’t speaking in full sentences but at least she was able to tell me if something was wrong. Kids learn & change so much daily. I wanted to be able to experience those milestones with my kids.

It for sure isn’t an easy job. I have my days when I want to jump off of a cliff BUT I enjoy being with my kids everyday … All in all, I would always choose to be with my kids, even though some days I’d rather clock in on someone’s job. “My job” definitely isn’t one for the faint hearted. I mean yeah I could be on someone’s job making a crap ton of money but memories that I’m making with my little ones are priceless. Of course, I have my days when I cry … who doesn’t … but the amount of smiles that my kids put on my face within a day out weigh my bad days. I’ll never forget the day I was having a TERRIBLE day … Xiomara looked at me and said “Mommy, I’m so proud of you. I had fun today.” I knew instantly that how I was feeling was the complete opposite of what my kids were experiencing. That made my heart smile … and it will continue to! ?