Truths: The title of stay at home mom

Today I am having a bunch of “girls” – moms over to celebrate a birthday. We will have snacks and drinks and maybe a few jello shots (don’t tell DCFS) and it is my hope that everyone will have fun – nothing too crazy…

And when I woke up this morning, I couldn’t help but think about what my life was like 12 years – when my daughter was first born. I had been a working professional – busy with projects and corporate reports – managing things like compensation and benefits – recruitment. I loved my job and ultimately, it was pretty much what defined me.

After Abby was born and my 12 weeks of maternity leave were up, I went back part-time. But in just a few months – I was ragged. I felt like I wasn’t doing either job well so I gave up my profession and became a “stay at home mom.”

For many months it was devastating. Its not something that many people talk about until many years later. But, it makes sense.

You go from 8-12 hour days – doing work that identifies you and then one day – you are plopped on a sofa, in your PJ’s, watching Oprah and wondering what the Hell happened.

It was really hard for me – really hard. In fact, so hard that when Abby was 18 months, I went back to work. And, I flourished. I was “me” again. And I did well – becoming a manager and leading my department – making decisions that impacted a whole company…until one day – I was burned out and wondering what more could I do with my life.

I left the world of corporate America and joined the forces of charity work. I did wildlife rehab, fundraising and volunteered at Abby’s school. It was odd at first but slowly it all started to mesh.

Here I am 7 years later completely content with my life. I am involved in animal rescue, I write this blog, I am working on a novel and now I am doing therapy dog work at a school. And, of course, I am still a “stay at home mom.”

But here’s the real thing… when I woke up this morning and thought about my day – I thought about the friends I have made. I guess you could say that they are my co-workers now in this “profession.” They help me make decisions and they support me when my days aren’t so good.

It took 12 years to get to this point – to feel settled into this role – to find new purpose and be fulfilled. It also took all this time to find the right friends – the right co-workers, so to speak.

Today they are all coming over – and we are having an after work happy hour. (Our work days are never over – so Happy Hour has no boundaries…) I couldn’t be more excited and I couldn’t be more grateful to not only feel good about my role but to have all the right friends to share it with.