The decision by a parent to be the primary caregiver to the children is either deliberate or circumstantial. It is deliberate when the parent opts out of employment to primarily focus on raising the children as the primary caregiver, and circumstantial when the decision is occasioned by secondary factors. Whichever way the decision is arrived at, the expectations are (sometimes) unknown, the parent is more often ill-prepared and the road map mostly unclear.

The experiences of many stay-home moms are varied, ranging from complete satisfaction to loneliness and many times resentment and misunderstanding from family members and close friends. For those yet to start, it evokes many emotions: joy, satisfaction, fear just to name but a few.

In Kenya, a growing number of mothers are choosing to stay at home to raise their families. Their decision is often made more difficult by culturally entrenched perceptions that don’t take the stay-home decision very well. And yet raising your child as a primary caregiver is really foundational to preparing the next generation. It has been said that a mother’s lap is the best university; that dictum will come true if a mother invests a substantial amount of time with her children. Staying home with the above goals in mind is not only noble but, I believe, at the heart of God’s design for raising godly families.