This blog has been all about how I am pursuing my dream to be a writer and leaving my engineering job so I can be home with my children, etc. etc. Weeeeellll, I’m not going to do that after all. I am not going to do the leaving my job part of it.
I’m still writing my novel and looking for freelance work, but I made the hard decision to stay at my full time job.
Why? Well, mostly this article: Regrets of a Stay-at-home Mom
Now, there are a lot of differences between the woman in this article and me. The biggest and most important difference is our career choice. I am in a career that, with the right experience and education, is completely recession proof. No one is fighting over engineering jobs. I have watched over half of my colleagues being courted by firms and moving on to bigger and better jobs in our industry. It’s a good place to be. It’s stable and it’s in demand.
This woman in the article is a writer. I envy her that. And she seems to have a fine resume full of accomplishments and clout. But it appears that her career path would have gone into a valley regardless of whether or not she had stayed at home with her children. Unfortunately, no one is really getting paid to write anymore.
She also stayed home for over a decade and experienced a divorce. While divorce is a variable no one can control, as I modern career woman I do not think I could stay home that long. I love my children, but once they are in school and pursuing their own interests, I want to devote more time to mine. And the number one interest is my career. Would I stay home through those first few years of school? Maybe. Middle School? No way. Not when I could contribute to our household.
But, that last bit, contributing to the household, that’s the kicker. That’s why I decided not to quit my job. We have bills and debt and financial goals just like everyone else. But I bring in half of our income, which also includes insurance for me and the children, as well as a company matching retirement plan and life insurance plan. I would lose all of it.
The stress of going to work each day would go away only to be replaced by the financial stress of making ends meet. My husband and I argue from time to time, but one thing we never have to argue about is finances, and for that I am grateful.
Plus, there is that nasty ‘re-entry’ process to the workforce that I imagine is worse than re-entry to the Earth’s atmosphere. At least the atmosphere doesn’t scrutinize the gap in your employment history.
So right now, I am still working the daily grind, dropping my kids off at daycare, and just trying to keep my cape straight. Will I continue doing this next year, or even next month? Who knows, but for now, I have to do what is best for me and my family.
But if my husband invents something and sells it for a billion dollars, then its SEEYA!
The Mommyverse 