Reply to Will I regret ending my career to stay home with ES age kids?

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Reply to "Will I regret ending my career to stay home with ES age kids?"

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[quote=Anonymous]In this economic environment, I would not count on either your or your husband’s job being 100% solid. And, while, yes, elementary (and middle and high school) kids still need involved parents, they IMO do not need a parent at home full time.
I would not quit unless you have a solid plan to do consulting work, i.e. have actual clients lined up for work. I would first lean out a bit at your job and see how that goes, can you pull back a bit, enforce boundaries more, etc. And, hire more help. A $400k salary could hire a FT household manager with a lot left over and seems a better investment than giving up a career at this stage.
FWIW, I was a mostly-SAHM when my kids were babies through youngest started kindergarten. Throughout those years I always did freelance work for former employers/colleagues. I had enough work that I regularly turned down projects. I had no trouble returning to a FT job once the kids were in ES. But, I was in my early 40s, not mid-50s and could show a resume of continuing work.

Yes, the balance was challenging but my kids liked going to aftercare to play with their friends for a couple hours every day and they didn’t do any really time-intensive ECs (by their choice). Older kids need you to be available to talk, but a chat at bedtime, while you are driving them somewhere, or texting are more likely to fill that need vs. being there when they walk in the door after school.

I’m very glad I went back to work FT because my husband ended up getting laid off when we had one in college and one in high school. We’re fine financially because we prioritized saving our 2nd income (DH and I had similar salaries) for college and retirement.  
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