Reply to I'm 40 and I make $20 per hour

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]OP here.  My husband works about 70 hour weeks, travels, and works about 2 weekends per month.  We have no local family and we've never had any kind of childcare help.  So all the childcare is on me.

I took this job (20 hours per week) once the kids were in preschool so I could get some intellectual stimulation, do something meaningful to me (I work for a non-profit doing work that is meaningful), and have a flexible job so I can be the one to take off for sick days, snow days, etc. because my husband would never take time off work last minute for sick days/snow days.  I love my organization, my co-workers, and the nature of the work.  Unfortunately though that means the job is super low paying and low prestige.  The job works for our family but it makes me feel bad about myself because I earn so little.

I just feel very lost, like how did an Ivy League college grad/super smart woman end up making $20 per hour?  I have avoided all my high school and college reunions because I feel like such a big loser.  I don't want anyone at the reunions to think, "What happened to her?"  They're all Doctors and lawyers and have full-time nannies/au pairs and have been able to make it work with a "big" career and a family.  [b]I didn't want to go the nanny/au pair route and with no family help, a $20 job was all I could come up with[/b].[/quote]

You didn't want to go the nanny/au pair route, and so you didn't.  You should be proud that you and your husband both value having a parent available for your kids, and that you did what you needed to to make this happen.  I'm also an Ivy League grad who worked for a decade and now I SAH with my kids.  I wouldn't want it any other way.  One day, I'll return to work, though I'm well aware it won't be the job I left, at least not at first.  But I'm ok with that because the choice I made (to be home with my kids) *far* outweighs any prestige I might derive from my career.  I think you're just going to have to own your choices and be proud of them, because you're raising your kids the way you feel is most important.[/quote]

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