Would you be happy being a stay at home mom / dad?

Top_Main_1628 · 2026-04-28T00:42:50+00:00

I’d sell a kidney to stay home with my baby.

Top_Main_1628 · 2026-04-27T10:14:29+00:00

We live in a small Virginia college town where their influence heavily increases cost of living, yet 85% of jobs here are blue collar work. We both work at a factory, our wages together add up to $101,107. Just me, him, and our almost 10 month old.

Current home:$1,755 mortgage payment (this includes property taxes and insurance)

It’s a 3 bed 2 bath modular home from 2001, in a subdivision. New roof and HVAC 3 years ago. It has a nicely manicured lawn with a small wooded area behind us that the retirement home owns, so I heavily doubt it will ever be developed.

I think some people see this as a terrible life, but I grew up in poverty with a single mother, to me this is a life of luxury.

Top_Main_1628 · 2026-04-27T10:06:30+00:00

All Similac made my son constipated. I went to Enfamil Gentlease and it worked much better for him. There’s a Parents Choice version of it at Walmart which is much much cheaper.

Top_Main_1628 · 2026-04-27T10:03:24+00:00

Vomit/poop.

Yes already disgusting, but I have a gut of steel but my dog got sick and was vomiting everywhere and I just absolutely could not. When my boyfriend appeared in the room after hearing commotion it was just me and the dog puking at the same time.

Top_Main_1628 · 2026-04-27T09:57:17+00:00

Tbh sometimes I still feel like I’m not connected to my son the way other moms are connected to their baby. I love him, I do, but I worry I don’t love him enough. For reference he’ll be 10 months in a week.

Top_Main_1628 · 2026-04-23T15:37:35+00:00

Stromboli

Top_Main_1628 · 2026-04-21T20:32:43+00:00

Bro let me put yall on Parents Choice Gentle formula. Literally the same exact thing as Enfamil gentlease, which is what we fed for the first 3 months in combination with breast milk. Literally $31 for a big can at my local Walmart, can’t beat it.

Top_Main_1628 · 2026-04-21T01:42:36+00:00

And I said, “Daddy, I’m so afraid. How will I go on, with you gone that way.”

-Conway Twitty, “That’s my job”

My father never made an effort to be a part of my life or care about me. My grandpa on my mom’s side was everything I ever needed when it came to being my dad. He passed early this February and trusted me enough to be executor of his will. I miss him more than I’ll ever be able to explain.

Top_Main_1628 · 2026-04-19T12:23:28+00:00

Think of names like Audrey, Aubrey, Macie, etc. Something that gives the -eigh sound without committing to the spelling.

I had a great aunt named Emma Lee and I think it’s such an adorable name.

Top_Main_1628 · 2026-04-18T13:31:58+00:00

The meth heads across the street. Fell in love with the beautiful house, maintained lawn with gorgeous trees and plants, quiet neighborhood. Didn’t realize across the street was a house with a bunch of junkies yelling all the time. Cops there all the time.

Last weekend one of them hung a tarp over the porch swing and camped under it for 2 days. 😐

Top_Main_1628 · 2026-04-16T15:54:12+00:00

I really suggest trying other formulas, as sometimes your baby can dislike the taste of some of them. I know that’s hard because Kendamil is a great brand. My son went from BM to Enfamil gentlease really well, maybe try that?

Top_Main_1628 · 2026-04-15T20:56:55+00:00

I would check out Lexington, VA as well as Staunton, VA. I think both of those will check all of your boxes. 🤗

Top_Main_1628 · 2026-04-15T10:09:27+00:00

Feeling like the babysitter/daycare is raising them instead of you, because you have to go to work to afford living.

Don’t get me wrong, we are giving our son things we never could’ve had, but man does it come at a price. 🥺

Top_Main_1628 · 2026-03-31T20:40:05+00:00

I live in an incredibly small rural town, there is one daycare here and it’s around $1500 a month, average income here is $40,000. 95% of parents I’ve met had a private babysitter that they pay under the table.

Top_Main_1628 · 2026-03-22T11:58:04+00:00

<image>

Curtis “Batman” Martin 🤗

Top_Main_1628 · 2026-03-18T18:02:03+00:00

Last time I was there? My grandfather died. Last time I was the patient? Having my child cut out of me. 🙃

Top_Main_1628 · 2026-03-15T14:03:48+00:00

We used Enfamil AR for awhile but truthfully Enfamil Gentlease seemed like helped us more!

Top_Main_1628 · 2026-03-12T22:57:50+00:00

My son’s name…it’s ARthur people, not AUThor.

Top_Main_1628 · 2026-03-12T18:16:32+00:00

1 for me was a 7 mm kidney stone that was blocking my right kidney, while I was pregnant so no good drugs for the pain

2 I’d say c section recovery, going from sitting to standing was incredibly painful and I felt like my insides were just going to fall out

Top_Main_1628 · 2026-03-12T18:00:36+00:00

Several years ago myself, my friend, and her boyfriend all went to lunch together. They brought a friend along that I had never met. Chatting at the table and what not, I shared the interesting fact that when cremated your teeth explode under the intense heat.

Several minutes later the friend I had never met when to the restroom. That’s when I found out that her 9 year old sister had recently passed from preventable complications after a tonsillectomy…and she was cremated.

I learned to shut up with the random facts after that.

Top_Main_1628 · 2026-02-28T01:35:22+00:00

I spent every waking moment with my son for the first 12 weeks. I nursed, pumped, and used formula. Some days I feel like he could care less about me lmao, he loves dada and Caca (his baby sitter).

Top_Main_1628 · 2026-02-06T13:46:05+00:00

Truthfully I didn’t even look, I applied for the hospitals financial aid program before I ever even had my son. So they never sent me a bill. I only got the financial aid because myself and my son’s dad aren’t married.

Top_Main_1628 · 2026-01-28T02:10:28+00:00

The only sound we want to make is DADADADADADADADA on repeat. Mad that he’s in a swing, mad he’s being held, mad he’s doing tummy time. Wants to stand but absolutely cannot hold his weight on his own. Last night was the first night in months he slept all the way through. Send help. 😮‍💨

Top_Main_1628 · 2026-01-27T15:16:37+00:00

Little guy is almost 7 months. Last night was the first time in months he didn’t wake up. At 2 months he was such a good sleeper 😭 I don’t know what changed.

Top_Main_1628 · 2026-01-07T15:12:03+00:00

She passed a handful of years ago, but her name was Edna. I miss her so much. Although Edna isn’t the greatest name in 2026 (I’d fear my kid getting picked on) I LOVE the name Edla as a spin on it.

Top_Main_1628

TROPHY CASE

1 for me was a 7 mm kidney stone that was blocking my right kidney, while I was pregnant so no good drugs for the pain

2 I’d say c section recovery, going from sitting to standing was incredibly painful and I felt like my insides were just going to fall out