10 Years
My life changed forever 10 years ago today. May 15, 2003 was my last day of work at LexisNexis. I've been a stay at home mom ever since. I don't know why I've remembered the exact date; some random facts remain "in the vault" that I can just recall. I never planned on being a stay at home mom. And, if someone had told me in early April of 2003 that a month and a half later, I would be quitting my job, I wouldn't have believed it.
Years of school, tons of law school debt, and the belief that I wanted a career contributed to the thought that I would never quit my job. Rather unexpectedly, our babysitter quit on us in early April. Rather than scramble to find new care for the kids (Jacob was two, Abby a baby), Donnie and I explored the possibility of me quitting my job. Expenses went on one side of a sheet of paper. Donnie's income went on another. As we added up each expense, almost to our surprise, the expense number per month was slightly less than Donnie's take home pay. I'll never forget Donnie's words to me, "I guess it's time you quit your job!"
I could hear audible gasps from my coworkers a few minutes after I sent out an email to my work colleagues telling them I was quitting my job. They recovered enough to throw me the best going away party ever! My friend Debbie knows how much I love chocolate. I was sent home with probably 30 lbs. of chocolate in various forms.
So there I was, Friday May 16th (I think the 15th was a Thursday but I could be wrong...). I had my two kids in diapers, a shoe string budget and a bunch of chocolate. I was happy (not about the small budget; but about being with my kids and the chocolate!) and content.
Ten years later, I'm forty years old and my baby is in first grade. This I've learned: time is precious and goes by so fast. I'm glad for the good and bad moments I've had with my kids. I couldn't imagine a better way to spend the past 10 years. I'm grateful for Donnie's willingness to work so hard to make staying home a reality me and for being such a good daddy when I needed a break.
I wish I had a digital camera when the kids were younger (getting a digital camera didn't happen until the shoestring budget was a little less shoestring) and/ or I had scanned in pictures that weren't digital. Since no of those have occurred, I'm posting some pictures that are old, but not old, old (since those aren't digital or scanned).
Years of school, tons of law school debt, and the belief that I wanted a career contributed to the thought that I would never quit my job. Rather unexpectedly, our babysitter quit on us in early April. Rather than scramble to find new care for the kids (Jacob was two, Abby a baby), Donnie and I explored the possibility of me quitting my job. Expenses went on one side of a sheet of paper. Donnie's income went on another. As we added up each expense, almost to our surprise, the expense number per month was slightly less than Donnie's take home pay. I'll never forget Donnie's words to me, "I guess it's time you quit your job!"
I could hear audible gasps from my coworkers a few minutes after I sent out an email to my work colleagues telling them I was quitting my job. They recovered enough to throw me the best going away party ever! My friend Debbie knows how much I love chocolate. I was sent home with probably 30 lbs. of chocolate in various forms.
So there I was, Friday May 16th (I think the 15th was a Thursday but I could be wrong...). I had my two kids in diapers, a shoe string budget and a bunch of chocolate. I was happy (not about the small budget; but about being with my kids and the chocolate!) and content.
Ten years later, I'm forty years old and my baby is in first grade. This I've learned: time is precious and goes by so fast. I'm glad for the good and bad moments I've had with my kids. I couldn't imagine a better way to spend the past 10 years. I'm grateful for Donnie's willingness to work so hard to make staying home a reality me and for being such a good daddy when I needed a break.
I wish I had a digital camera when the kids were younger (getting a digital camera didn't happen until the shoestring budget was a little less shoestring) and/ or I had scanned in pictures that weren't digital. Since no of those have occurred, I'm posting some pictures that are old, but not old, old (since those aren't digital or scanned).
I could go on and on posting pictures. I have so many good ones that capture the ordinary as well as the extraordinary moments.
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