If you read this blog you know that I struggled with the decision to stay-at-home with my son or return to work as a software developer. After months of weighing my options I decided I wasn’t ready to return to the working world quite yet.
My journey to become a stay-at-home mom is an interesting one. After working in the same department for over 11 years I decided to interview for a new job that was closer to home. I wasn’t ready to leave my company, but I wanted to look for a new opportunity that would cut my commute in half.
I interviewed for that position on Valentine’s Day. That day I also saw two bright pink lines on my home pregnancy test. From the moment I found out I was pregnant I wondered how I would ever return to work. While part of me wanted to remain a working parent the other half of me didn’t know how I would ever return to work after my child arrived.
Ninety days after starting in my new position I was informed that my entire team was being eliminated. Strangely enough I was told that management knew this was going to happen before I even interviewed for the job. I was cut along with more than 200 other employees.
If you believe in God you have to wonder if this was a sign. All of the other layoffs were instantaneous. An employee was told their position was eliminated and they were escorted from the building. This wasn’t the case for me. I was told my position would remain in good standing until November. My baby was due in late October!
What are the odds that I would be laid off and that the layoff would not occur until just after my baby was due to be born? I would receive six weeks of short term disability if the baby arrived before my termination date along with six months of severance!
Not certain that I wanted to remain out of work indefinitely I interviewed for other jobs outside of the company and landed one that included better pay than my previous one. I accepted the position, but after much thought and contemplation I decided that I was not ready to return to work quite yet. I just wasn’t ready to place my son in daycare to go to a job I know I won’t love. So a few weeks ago I contacted my employer and let them know I would not be starting.
That new job was supposed to begin today. And wouldn’t you know it, but today my son crawled for the very first time. Not yesterday, not tomorrow, not a week from now. Nope. TODAY. If I had gone to work this morning I would’ve missed it. While that’s not the end of the world and many mothers go to work each day and miss these first moments, I know that I didn’t want to miss this one.
You can believe in fate, you can believe in God, you can believe in many things, but I now believe more than ever that I’ve made the right decision to stay home with my son. Whenever I’m in doubt it seems the stars keep aligning to show me the way!
WOW! Talk about FATE!!!!!!
Crazy, right?!
I definitely believe in God and stories like this are reasons why.
I am very spiritual myself. I have a friend who says ask and you shall receive. This certainly felt like one of those instances where I didn’t know what to do and asked for guidance. Guidance is definitely what I received!
Great story. My wife is also a stay-at-home mom. She knew that’s what she wanted to do, and her job didn’t really pay enough to make it worth taking our son to daycare. He’s been with us for just over a year, and it’s worked out well for us. You just have to keep the spending in check when you live on one income.
Justin – I took a look at your blog. Very nice work. My husband and I aren’t big spenders, but I have to admit that it’s difficult to come to terms with one paycheck versus two. We were both earned high incomes so the loss of my paycheck is significant.
How sweet!
There will be a lifetime to work, but our kids will only be little once.
That was the deciding factor for me to quit work when my kids were 1 and 5. We kept waiting until we could afford it, but I realized they were growing so fast and I was going to miss it! Trust me, you don’t want someone else telling you about his ‘firsts’!
Exactly! I just wanted to see all of those firsts for myself. I am doing my best now to enjoy every day with him!