Beginning

I have been working full-time in the non-profit sector since the week after I graduated from college in 2001.  During this time I moved states twice, gained a Master's certificate in Career Development, a Master's degree in Psychology, went through years of grueling infertility treatments and have welcomed three children into our family.  But it wasn't until a drive home from Minneapolis last summer that my husband and I really began the question of 'what if'.

In June 2012 I had been working long hours serving as the executive director a non-profit that I loved.  But the work was stressful and demanding and Nathan and I both agreed that I was no longer in balance between work and home life.  With Nathan being a teacher and two children at home with a third on the way we couldn't imagine the possibility of me staying at home.  But through the miles down that familiar highway from Minneapolis to Chicago we began to search.

On December 11, 2012 after the epidural set in while laboring to bring my third child into the world I realized that I was now a stay-at-home mom.  I had resigned from the position in November and announced it publicly at the beginning of December but those are just formalities.  My identity as a woman, a mother, a worker had shifted in this moment and the moments to come.

And here I sit - leaning in to my new identity.  With my work now focused inwardly to our family completely.  A new budget and a new life style.

This blog is not an effort to speak generally for women and the choice between work, home or a hybrid of the two.  Each journey is different and each family must decide what is most life giving for their home.  This is a journal of my experience, my transition and resources for those who are interested along the way.