[bfw0729]

Just what the title says, if you left a career you absolutely loved and performed well with great success to stay at home.

Do you think about your career while at home? Do you look at job opportunities online to see what's going on out there?

I say this because I LOVE LOVE LOVE my profession. I worked 8 years in college for it and truly love doing what I do professionally. However, I KNOW I made the right decision to stay home. I love being with my children, observing their play activities, playing with them, encouraging them, helping them to practice to attain new skills, etc...

Even with all that above, I miss my work as a professional a tiny bit in my heart. I read journals to keep up with it and sneak a few peeks online to see what job opportunities are available. I feel VERY uncomfortable sending them to daycare in order for me to go to work. It would drive me crazy! I worry about them like crazy now and they're directly in front of me

I am very curious if any of you have similar feelings or experiences.

 

[BetsyS]

I was a midwife before I had babies.

I loved that career. It totally defined who I was, not just what I did. I love pregnant women, I love newborns, I love labor and delivery. I do miss it, but not enough to go back to it.

The on-call, all consuming, lifestyle can be difficult for a family, and I want a simpler life for my own family.

I miss it sometimes, though. I'm still on a couple of email loops for professionals. I still read journals. I still try to stay somewhat connected.

 

[kittywitty]

Yes, I loved my job. But I had to move for dh's work anyways, and my job was pretty specialized, so I would not have been able to find it again. I do miss it and have thought about going back, but I can't. I don't really find it hard so much anymore except wishing I could bring that money in!

 

[Red Pajama]

Yes . I enjoyed my job. I was very good at it. I even had a Stay at home Husband for a year before we moved. After the move, it was my turn to be home, and I've enjoyed it. We made these decisions together, and I'll be home for a bit longer. I do read the journals, and keep up with friends still working, but I don't look at postings for local jobs.

 

[ExuberantDaffodil]

Yes, definitely. I was a college English instructor, and I loved it with every fiber of my being! I think that leaving a beloved profession like that helped contribute to my depression, but at the same time, I am overjoyed that I can be at home with my son and soon to be little daughter.

The college where I worked for 9 years changed its program, and I honestly felt like it wasn't a very good fit for me anymore, anyway. While I thrived off of forming relationships with my students and being in front of the classroom, the new program put students all in front of computers and minimalized the professor's involvement. not my thing.

What I do now to stay "in the loop" and sane is teach a few home school co-op classes. it's fun and doesn't take up a lot of time (a couple of hours a week) and it keeps me doing what I feel like I was born to do, professionally.

 

[nkintzel]

I'm getting ready to go on maternity leave. My older child is 16 months and I'm due with our LO in about 9 days.

I'm really struggling with this right now. I work in a field (environmental)

here its difficult to find a well-paying job, at least in our area. We live in a small town, and I absolutely LOVE what I do. Its very fulfilling, and I get paid pretty well.

However, I'm having a difficult time envisioning going back. I didn't SAH with my older one. Well, you know. He's only 16 months, there is still time for that, but I mean, I went back to work after only 6 weeks. My husband is a teacher, so when my 6 weeks were up, he was home for the summer. This time, I'm planning on taking 12 weeks off, but it still seems like so little!

Anyway, my fear is that I won't be able to find another job when I'm ready to return to work, I fear the loss of income, etc.

But I also fear never being able to go back to this time with my kids.

I don't know what to do!

 

[hotmamacita]

Yes, I did.

 

[newbymom05]

I did, but once we had our kids I realized that I couldn't stand the stress of parenting and full time WOH. Maybe when they're both in full time school (4 years from now), but now it wouldn't be worth it to me. We moved across the country for DH's job here, so I'm totally out of the loop and would be starting from scratch, were I to look for another position.

 

[henny penny]

I gave up a professional job I loved to stay at home with our son and I'm loving every minute of it. I'm finding that I'm pretty good staying at home!

We live in the country so my job involved a long commute that wouldn't work for our family. I'll go back to my career in some capacity, although closer to home, when our child/children reach school age. Now I stay busy with expanding our farm operations. I consider it my part-time career from home.

 

[Miss Information]

Warning - venting ahead.

I've been out of the workforce 5 years to be at home with my girls (7.5, almost 6 and 4.5).

I worked 12 years in the science field - microbiology, forensic DNA analysis, and then medical genetics. Stressful, at times. By the end of my career I was dissatisfied for many reasons and I knew (at the time) coming home was the right thing for all of us.

But now...I'm bored out of my mind. Completely, utterly, hopelessly bored.

I have 3 blogs - one for me and two for things I do with the kids. We did science projects, math projects and some other stuff.

I made children's toys for a while. I keep thinking I want to do some more.

But I'm bored in an extremely major way.

I thought it was because I didn't have any friends. Now I know it's not because of that. But it's because I'm not doing what I love anymore - working in the lab. I was a supervisor when I left in a major private university in a major metropolis. I miss the lab so much I wouldn't care if I was an underpaid lab tech if I could do the stuff I loved doing with my hands again.

Now I'm just an under-stimulated, low-energy, bored, lazy mother who just can't fathom ever getting back to doing what I loved doing.

I just want to cry. Only I don't have the energy for it.

 

[BarefootScientist]

I loved my career. But I have to say I didn't particularly like the job I was doing at the time. I had only been doing it for a few months before DS was born and it was part-time. I definitely think I made the right choice to stay home for awhile. It has allowed me to cultivate other passions. I don't think about my old career so much anymore but I do stay connected in some ways, to old peers, to the news in my field, and once in a while, yes, I do start wondering and start looking up job openings. But I'm just as likely to start fascinating about an entirely new career field...which I then feel kind of guilty about, because hey, I used a year and a half of my life and worked SO HARD to get a master's in my field...

Oh well, I guess we will see what happens. Life is a journey.

:

 

[Magali]

Absolutely not!!! I was a restaurant manager and I RAN out of the building on my last day. I am so much happier being a SAHM.

 

[goldingoddess]

I am three months into being a stay-at-home mom, and I really don't miss my professional career. I love, love, love, staying home. Never been happier.

 

[aet.tea]

I'm getting ready to leave a job I have enjoyed a lot - in the nonprofit arts world, so everyone who does it does it for passion, not $$.

I was planning to return to the job, working at the office a day or two a week and from home the rest - that's what I'm doing now, but its not working. If it weren't a 50 minute commute (one way) it might work. But for the pay, it just doesn't make sense. . .

And I do love being with DD every day, she is such an amazing baby and changing every day. I'm trying to be at peace with it, knowing that this arrangement will allow me to do the things I love that I haven't had time for - I'm a musician, and its been a while since I had much time to practice. That's something I want to make a part of DD's life too.

 

[wombatclay]

Adored my career (reference librarian at a major research university, lots of expansion into info sci and digital resource management) and had invested 6 years in that position... loved the job, my co-workers, the professors and students and patrons. Loved the blogs and books and meta data and 24/7 chat service and the classes I taught.

DH and I explored options and although I loved my job, even after 6 years the salary couldn't support quality day care for two kiddos. His job paid enough to cover the bills if we sold our home, moved to a lower cost area, and kept to a tight budget. My parents fell ill at about the same time dd2 arrived... after working off my maternity benefits I left the library. Part of me is 100% certain this was the right choice at the right time but part of me regrets having to make that choice. I miss my career, the intellectual stimulation, the networking and social nature of the job. I miss the routines and personal challenges, the coffee and conversations, the feeling of helping people and keeping the information flowing. I miss the positive feedback!

So I do look forward to the day I can get back into the library (say in 4-5 years when ds starts school?). It's a big part of my identity and I felt like I had a good balance between "identity librarian" and "identity mother". I'll never regret being "mostly mom" for a few years and providing my kiddos with a full time hands on physically/mentally/emotionally present parent, and I know this is the best option for our family at this time.... but yes. I miss my career and look forward to the day I can put that hat back on. So I read journals, check programs, and stay in touch with people in the field.

 

[1jooj]

I not only left a job I love, but I left it right before the kids both started FT school. I just walked a few weeks ago. I had a position with an employer that had tried hard to accommodate my needs, allowing me to switch back and forth from FT to PT, some work from home privileges, allowed the kids to come in with me once in a while as needed, etc. It was a creative position in a creative field, working with people I just love.

My employer was really great in nearly every way, but the stress of the whole, big picture was too much. The disorganization and lack of planning meant every job was hot by the time it got to me.

I had a very short drive to work, but the logistics of daycare added an extra hour plus to each day. In addition, I live on a small farm, so I had barn work before getting myself and kids ready and barn work after work. Dh travels extensively for his job, so for weeks at a time, I would be living this insane schedule of farming, parenting and working from 4 AM to 9 PM, with no time, ever, for any kind of self care.

So I quit. I don't regret it yet, but we'll see how we manage it financially.

:

 

[NicaG]

I used to work in book publishing. I was on the editorial track, but I was having a hard time moving up in my career. I was stuck at the "associate editor" level but couldn't quite make the jump to a higher position. I liked being involved in the book world, but there were a lot of things I didn't like about it, too. It was sort of fun to be in NYC, in the middle of everything. I have not kept up with any contacts, and I'm sort of too old to go back in at the low level where I was....so now I need to find a new career when the kids are older. It's sad, because books were so much part of life (prior to book publishing, I worked at an independent bookstore for about 6 years). But it's also liberating to reinvent myself somewhat, or go back to school to study something completely new.

 

[mamasaurus]

I am trying really hard to stop working on a job that I love.

I have my own business and it has been so hectic lately. My kids are in school, but still I find I have so much to deal with just to run the household and keep up with all the school stuff and doctor's appointments and everything else...

I have 6 projects left to do, and then I'm only going to take on projects that I truly, truly love and want to do. I want to work no more than 10-15 hours a week.

 

[Vegan Princess]

I left a job in investments to stay home. I enjoyed what I did and loved my boss. I really felt fortunate to have my position and didn't imagine that I wouldn't go back after maternity leave. But I had thought I would have flexibility to work from home a few days/week and that didn't work out. - so I quit. I couldn't bring myself to go back to 10-12 hour days and in the office at 4:30 or 5 am. I love being at home and I so don't miss being up that early but I do miss the intellectual stimulation and the social interaction with my co-workers. I wish I could work 2 5-6 hour days each week. I recently did some contract work for my old boss from home, at night. I'm hoping he keeps sending work my way - keeps my mind active and lets me keep putting somthing on my resume. I do think I'll go back to work some day but not in the near term as DD is only 7 months and we plan to have 1 or 2 more...I'd want to wait until they are all in school. I think about how crazy hectic our lives would have been with us both working and me working long hours. I would never get to see my baby and I have no idea how the house would function as I feel like my house work is never done and I have all day to do it!

Cindy

 

[Luv2Bake]

Didn't love it, didn't hate it; but to be honest - I didn't like it.