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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]It’s a leap of faith to quit and SAHP.

I recently did it but it took me 3 years to pull the trigger, and I was thinking about it 2 years before then.

I have three kids and honestly, if you make a decent salary, you can pay for good quality childcare when they are young. I didn’t mind leaving them when they were babies/young toddlers, as I felt like they were well cared for while I worked, and doing really well. As they entered elementary school, it actually got harder to find good quality childcare - we tried a nanny/housekeeper position, tried aftercare, and I felt like I wanted to be more involved in their lives than I was by not getting home until 5 or 6 pm.

When my youngest hit elementary school and nothing got any easier, I started thinking seriously about quitting. balancing work and home life was a constant challenge - I had advanced in my career, which meant more flexibility but also more responsibility. So I could take a sick day, but the hours needed to be made up to get the work done. I could make it all work but it felt like I was constantly either shortchanging my kids or shortchanging my job. It was a bad feeling, but I really liked my job and had never imagined myself being a sAHp. It also felt like I was a “quitter” since I had gotten through the early childhood years, but it just felt like I was too busy to really enjoy either working or parenting.

And of course you can’t talk about SAHP without talking about money.  I made about $120k when my first was born and about $210k when I quit 11 years later. My DH made slightly more than me when we had DC1 and made 10X more than me, so by the time I was thinking about stopping work, my financial contribution was no longer critical to the finances of our family. And while I really struggled internally with depending on my DH financially, I decide to reframe and be grateful that he makes enough that I am able to choose — he would be making the same wether I kept working or not.

It’s only been a few months now that I’m home, and I am really enjoying it. It took a bit to get into a routine, and set goals and a schedule for myself, but I’m pretty happy making the adjustment. My DH continues to be supportive, I’ve finally gotten to be a parent volunteer at my kids school, and I am getting regular exercise. I do see myself working again at some point, but not for many more years and it will be a new career - I’m calling myself retired from my last one. [/quote]

Good for you. If your spouse earns a lot of money and you are protected financially, I think staying at home with your kids -at least part time - is a no brainer. [/quote]

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