Stay-at-Home Mom of Twins Has a Message For Those Who Say Her Life's "Easy"
Anna Strode has a message for anyone who thinks her life as a stay-at-home mom to 22-month-old twin boys isn't considered work: "I'm begging you, NEVER underestimate HOW HARD stay-at-home mums WORK!"
In an emotional post to Instagram, Strode shared that a recent commenter on her page, bubs2bikinis, said that she wished she could stay home all day and exercise with her child instead of going to work. The expectant mom-of-two says this comment "cut her pretty deep."
"You think I don't WORK?!" she wrote underneath a photo of herself with one twin strapped to her chest and the other standing by her side. "You think I sit at home all day and twiddle my thumbs? You think two 22-month-old toddlers just let me kick my feet up all day after I've done my morning workout? You think I'm beaming with energy as I grow a new baby and frantically do my best to keep up with twin boys that run rings around me?!"
The mom continues her post, breaking down for her nearly 80,000 followers what a day in her life is like.
I certainly DON'T spend all day exercising. My days are spent changing shitty nappies, dealing with tantrums, playing cars and trucks, making food that gets thrown on the floor before it's even tasted, walking the streets trying to get tired, grumpy children to nap, attempting to teach two little humans to SHARE instead of bite, pull hair, scratch, or push each other, pushing swings, climbing up and down bloody forts that shouldn't even be in kids playgrounds because they are so damn unsafe, singing the alphabet, going for adventures to keep the bubs happy, vacuuming three times a day because of all that food that I worked so hard to cook wasn't even considered eating . . .
Oh, and did I mention the constant battle of playing referee ALL day between two little cheeky monkeys that, guess what, DON'T just play happily and entertain each other all day! . . . I literally, for most of the part, can't take my eyes off them! They are best friends, but need constant management.
Strode goes on to explain that staying home with her children means having to go without a lot of things. To make some extra money for her family, she works hard on her Instagram and blog and also rents out a studio off the back of the family's home with Airbnb, which means having to clean in between renters often in addition to tidying her own house. Compared to her last job, a high management role in marketing, Strode says being a mom is far more demanding, which is why when someone comments that her life appears "easy," it upsets her.
"Because you know what, on the days the boys wake up screaming at 5:30 a.m. and are still whining when Daddy walks out the door at 7 a.m. . . . I feel like going to work too!" she wrote. "[Stay-at-home-moms] do it because we love it, but we often do it with tears rolling down our faces, our heads in our hands crying, and with a huge sense of loneliness from the adult world too! I'm not saying that I or someone works harder than another, what I'm saying is we ALL work hard! One thing I know for sure, though, is I'm glad I chose this job and I wouldn't change a thing. This job is hard but it is by far the MOST rewarding."