Announcing: A Life Event

Facebook has a new setting that allows you to receive only status updates concerning "life events" from friends. Wondering what that means? I'm guessing it's something along the lines of the news I have. No, I'm not pregnant. But this is nearly just as huge.

Wait for it...




On Monday, I turned in my letter of resignation. I've been with my company for 11 years--through a wedding and the birth of two babies. I have been lucky enough to have a fantastic boss who is also a working mom--someone who has allowed me to be flexible with my schedule--first working from home on Fridays, then making the move to part-time hours. It has been a fulfilling job filled with awesome people. I've learned so much about writing and editing in my 11 years here. It is extremely difficult to leave. Especially since I am a person who absolutely hates change. I do not adapt well.

And yet, this is a move I have been talking about making for a year or two now. My commute sucks. I am spending about six hours per week in the car. The girls' schedules are getting more demanding with soccer and choir and dance. I always thought they'd need me less once they were in school full-time, but it turns out the opposite was true. Those days in daycare as infants were the easy part. Now there is homework to do and playdates to plan and extracurriculars to keep up with. Mornings that I work have been a blur of activity, trying to get their hair done and my hair done and everyone dressed and still walk out the door in time to make my hour commute.

So last week, when I was presented with the opportunity to work from home full-time, I jumped at it. I mean, I wouldn't be me if I haven't also second-guessed my decision a million ways to Sunday, wondering if I'll be as engrossed by the work involved in my new job. Wondering if I'll miss the social outlet of the office. Wondering if trying to work out childcare for school holidays and vacations and sick days will make me crazier than my current part-time freelance, part-time office work situation does. But the truth is, I thought about it for only a few seconds before actually making my decision. If I can be there every morning to take my kids to school and be there every afternoon to pick them up, to do homework with them, to invite their friends over, and take them to extracurricular activities--how can I say no to that? How can I not at least try that?

I've spent a lot of time over the past few days focusing on the potential negatives of my new job, not helped by the fact that about 50 percent of the people I share my news with ALSO want to point out the negatives--as if I'm a five-year-old who hasn't taken the time to really think this through. It is not easy to leave a job of 11 years where you are relatively happy. To be perfectly honest, it feels a little like jumping off a cliff. So here, more for my benefit than for anyone else's, is a list of wonderful, perfect, positives:

•  The excited response I got from the girls when I told them the news, along with the five-year-old chanting "Thank you for quitting your job!" over and over again
• A schedule that allows me to be flexible enough to volunteer at school and to bring the seven-year-old home for lunch from time to time
• The ability to be *there* in the morning before school and in the afternoon after school, to meet the other parents, to know my kids' friends
• The possibility of running during daylight hours--even if it is only once or twice a week
• Not spending six hours in the car on a weekly basis when that time could be used elsewhere--cooking dinner, spending time with my kids, cleaning the house, running
• The pleasure of being able to spend more time with my kids, even if I am still working full-time
• The simple fact that a lot of working moms would kill for the opportunity to work from home--to still generate income while also enjoying the semblance of being a stay-at-home mom

I could go on and on about the potential negatives too, the what-ifs. But instead, I'll leave you with this quote from Steve Jobs, who passed away yesterday. What he says about following your heart--that gut instinct--I knew within 10 seconds of receiving the opportunity to work full-time from home that it was something I had to pursue. Wish me luck! 

"Remembering that you are going to die is the best way I know to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose. You are already naked. There is no reason not to follow your heart. Stay hungry. Stay foolish."
—Keynote address at Stanford, 2005