Figure I'd write on this.

From a forum:

Q: Would you quit your job to be home with your newborn?

Short answer, yes. It's what I did.

I had 3 months maternity leave, and told my employer I would let them know whether I would return to work at ~6 weeks. I agonized over the decision. One day in the car, once again considering the question, "Return to work & ask someone else to take my place as a mommy for a majority of the work week? Give my tiny 6,8,12-week old baby to a stranger? Or quit my job and stay home full time, entering an arena of mommydom I was completely unfamiliar with?"

"WHY do I think I want to return to work?" I thought to myself.

"Because it would be easier," came the answer.

Going back to work would've been easier to my mind because there is always a right or wrong answer there, everything is black & white. Being a full time mom/homemaker was something completely alien to me, a big challenge, emotionally, spiritually, and skill-wise. So I chose the challenge.

There are certainly times when I see the other side and wonder about re-entering the professional workforce, and then I remember that the only thing that will outlast my professional escapades, whatever money I'd earn, is the job that I'm doing for my children right now. The effect I have on my kids now will affect future generations. If I'm teaching her that love & life are more than what I can earn, teaching her that being there to raise ones children oneself is paramount to anything else, I believe in that lies the worth.

I also remember to Keep It Simple, my life is fairly complicated with logistics, budgets, prioritizing. I see how much more complicated it might be were I still working, and I'm not willing to take on that stress or add that kind of stress to my daughter's life. I feel, in a way, that I escaped some trap. The trap in the idea that we must have two incomes, we must be able to afford that trip, that car, that house, that material object.

When I look at how far I've come, and what I've learned, though intangible, it's priceless.