Sacrificing Career For Family

The career woman sacrifices her career for family…

Most young women know that one day we will be faced with the inevitable question. “Working mom, or a stay at home mom?” Looking back, it’s funny this is even a question without having any idea how drastically our life will change. It is almost impossible to imagine the moment you will say you are sacrificing your career for your family. How can you prepare yourself for that?

Your entire life, the only thing you have had to care and focus on is your career. Most women are working for nearly a decade before we start to think about having a family. We started climbing the corporate ladder at 22 years old. By your mid 30’s you are in management and experts in your field. How can you sacrifice your career? You have worked so hard to get to where you are!

The perfect situation

From the start even through pregnancy, I was certain I was going back to work. I had my dream child care situation figured out. My family was going to be helping out for a few days. My husband and I were going to be working from home occasionally. I had nothing to worry about! I’d have it all, a great career that paid phenomenal, and my family perfectly looked after. I wasn’t going to have to sacrifice my career at all! I thought that I would be the woman that can do everything- career woman, super mom, and housewife. I always push myself to be the best at everything, and I wanted to prove to everyone that I could do it all. I would be the exception. I would be able to do it all. There couldn’t be side effects from pushing myself to the limit. I was about to find out how wrong I was!

My life turns upside down

In almost a blink of an eye, your entire life changes the second you see and hold your baby. No one can prepare you for the moment your life changes, no matter how much you are told. Their little fingers and toes, the way they are physically drawn to you, the love is instantaneous. It is in our human DNA to love and protect our baby. The moment you see them, sacrificing your career for your family seems like human nature. Nothing else in my world mattered, but my son.

The moment I knew I would give it all up was when my child care situation fell through. My perfect situation came crashing down. What now?! I was so in love with my son, but so scared about the future. As a result all the emotions postpartum smacked me in the face. I had to make one of the most difficult decisions of my life.

As a sales leader at my company, I invested nearly 7 years of my life. How could I sacrifice my career that I built up for so long? The personal connections, the individual success, the knowledge gained. What was it all for if one day I was going to throw it all away?

The world changes. Sacrificing career for family.

When I went back to work after maternity leave, all the mothers told me that it gets better leaving your baby. They said “you eventually get used to it.” That stuck with me. Are we just numbing ourselves to how nature created us? As the protectors and caregivers for our babies, aren’t we supposed to be the main presence in their lives? If our natural reaction returning to work is gut wrenching pain and remorse, why are we numbing those emotions? Isn’t that what makes use Mothers?

As I continued to ask myself these questions, I thought to myself how much am I worth? What is my time with my son worth? Is there an amount of money that would make me happy leaving my son everyday with a stranger? To me, it seems like everyone has their cost. I wouldn’t take any amount of money, over being with my son everyday.

True love

My husband sat down and crunched some numbers, and came to a major conclusion. We would have to drastically change our lifestyle. However raising my son is more important than having the nicest house, jewelry, cars, and shoes.

I was beginning to realize my purpose in life, and that I in fact was not giving anything up at all. I was gaining everything. Raise my son and build the best life for my family. Every decision I have made proves that sacrificing my career for my family was an easy choice. Every day I look at my son, I know that no one else could care for him like me. Family or not, I am his Mother, and there is no love or care like a Warrior Mamas. I choose to not be bought. I chose to be a Mom.

All of our journeys are our own. There is no right or wrong decision, we just have to do what makes us happiest in life. You can learn more about me here, and I look forward to reading your comments below. 

In the end the decision is yours. I made the choice that there is nothing that I will not sacrifice for my family.