Reply to Tell me about how you changed professionally in preparation for children

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]I'd like to hear stories from working moms who, prior to kids, were quickly moving up in their career trajectory.

Once you started thinking about starting a family, did you:

1 - Modify your career track?  Potentially to something more "boring" yet "stable"?  Or just "slow down" a bit - in other words, not be out there interviewing for the next best thing or pushing for a promo, since you knew both would come with increased hours/travel?
OR
2 - Stay the course?  Take on more stressful positions with greater responsibility to advance your career? Go into it with the mindset that you'd "cross that bridge when you got there", even though potentially facing no FMLA security, etc?  Pursue potentially high risk/high reward opportunities?

Interested to hear what others' experiences have been.

[/quote]

I did #1 -- took a drastic pay cut to move to a stable position that is less interesting, but actually more enjoyable in the end. I work half the hours (and make 1/3 of the pay!), and the work is not as interesting, but I have much more control, which I like. And I love my colleagues and the work environment. In short, I got my life back. I did this both for myself and in preparation for having kids -- have been at the new job 2.5 years and am pregnant with kid #1. I pushed hard for a promotion about a year after I got there, knowing that it might be the last chance before I had a kid. Got the promotion, and I am now at the top of where I can go unless I move into management, which I have no desire to do. But I'm ok with that. Had I stayed at my previous job (Biglaw), I would have burned out or had to drop out of the ratrace after having kids. I knew from the moment I got there that I couldn't do both successfully. With this job, I should be able to give 100% or close to it even with kids. It only requires a normal 8.5 hour work day, not the 12-15 I put in at the firm. I love my work and am committed to working hard and having a fantastic career. But I freely admit that in order to do so, I can't pursue the most prestigious thing out there. And that's ok. I don't really view it as a step down, because I hated my more prestigious job anyway.[/quote]

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