Kailyn Lowry Gets Candid About Choosing Between Being a Stay-at-Home Mom or Hiring a Nanny
The podcast host is mom to seven kids
Kailyn Lowry is sharing her expertise on whether to hire a nanny.
The Teen Mom alum, 32, posted a video on her TikTok in response to another video that asked if she would rather be a stay-at-home mom, or be a working mom making $200,000, but would need to hire a nanny.
“I’ve done both so let’s talk about it," Lowry says in the beginning of her video.
"There are pros and cons to both and I don’t think that this is a black-and-white situation," the mom of seven continues, sharing that the decision can vary from family to family. "Whichever route you go or your family chooses to go, you need a village regardless.”
Noting that she doesn't need to get into the pros and cons of being a stay-at-home mom, Lowry explains that she used to "fantasize" about having a nanny when she was home alone with her kids.
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"And while that is true most of the time for me now, there’s still so much guilt associated with having a nanny and relinquishing control in terms of your kids," she continues. "I cannot tell you how much time in the day I am having anxiety and thinking about the fact that I have to get these things done for work and for my other kids, and I’m not spending the same time with my three babies that I once did with my four older ones individually.”
Lowry is mom to twins Verse and Valley, who she welcomed last fall with boyfriend Elijah Scott, and son Rio, 15 months, with Scott. Lowry is also mom to Creed, 3½, and Lux, 6½, with ex Chris Lopez, 10-year-old son Lincoln with ex Javi Marroquin and 14-year-old son Isaac with ex Jo Rivera.
Sharing that her situation is a little different because she had her three younger babies back to back, Lowry says it's important to consider that hiring a nanny is a large expense.
"You are paying someone’s salary," the mom of seven says. "So you have to take into consideration that $200k may not actually last you as long as you think it does when you’re paying a 70-100 thousand dollar salary for your nanny."
Lowry walks through the actual math of paying someone's salary, saying that there are other expenses to take into consideration, such as "your car payments, your student debt, your everything else in life" and adds, "You are not left with as much as you think you are." She says the financial burden comes with the burden of guilt in being away from your kids.
She also says that the situation doesn't take into consideration those who don't have a choice one way or the other.
"There are people who don’t have a choice but to be a stay-at-home mom and work off of a $50k salary," Lowry says. "But that’s why I say there is no black-and-white situation here. In a perfect world, could you have a nanny and do all the things and work and have a dual income house? Yeah of course. But the reality of it is that that’s not true."
"The stress of being a stay-at-home mom and not having a village, or having a break during the day, or you’re expected to be a stay-at-home mom Monday through Friday and weekends when your partner is home, you still have to be full-time mom," Lowry explains.
"There are no breaks. There is none of that. So it’s understandable to fantasize about having a nanny to help relieve the pressure from some of those tasks. And the mental load. The responsibilities and tasks that fall on a stay-at-home mother are invaluable."
The podcast host says you can't put a number on being a stay-at-home mom because no job compares.
"Neither one of these options are enough and that’s the unfortunate reality of today’s world," she concludes the video.
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