When I was in college, I saw an ad for the TV show Thirtysomething in which the wife was struggling with the decision about whether to return to work as a young mother, and the husband said, “At least you have a choice!” I was too young to appreciate the nuances of that conversation, but I fully get it today.
Hub and I agreed that I would be a stay-at-home mom after adopting our child, which I did for the first four years of his life. I didn’t plan to return to work when we adopted our child, but I found that I really missed it. Money was not the primary motivator, although I do enjoy having the spending money for travel, summer camps, and such. What I really missed was the feeling of accomplishment of a job well done, which I didn’t get from folding laundry and scrubbing toilets.
Don’t get me wrong – I have a deep respect for women who are fulfilled by working 24/7 to serve their family’s needs without an outside job. I just don’t happen to be one of them.