Anyone regret leaving a high paying career to spend more time with their kids?
TL;DR I want to quit my high paying job and get more stuff done at home and play more with my kids. And I want to hear from people that did that and regretted it.
I’m at a bit of a crossroads. I am fortunate enough to be in a lucrative career in what is a tough financial time. And it is genuinely just good fortune more than anything else.
However, I hate my job. It is stressful and I believe my company behaves unethically (as do my customers) and there’s just very little pride I take in my work. And the stress comes home with me and it affects my kids.
I find myself not having the energy to spend the extra five minutes at pickup to let them play or finish their activity. I spend most weekends doing things I’m too tired to do on weeknights instead of playing with them. I have trouble handling play dates and birthday parties and activities for the same reason. They are often the earliest drop off and latest pickup at daycare.
But the money is so hard to leave. I’m not spending as much time as I want with my kids but can give them whatever they want/need otherwise. We try our best not to literally spoil them but I’ve never had to say no. And if I were to keep doing what I’m doing I would have zero concerns about college, helping them but housing, our retirement, etc.
So in consideration of the above I’m thinking about quitting. Either taking a different job with less commitment (for a massive reduction in income) or just becoming a SAHD for a bit.
We can still actually live pretty comfortably on my wife’s salary alone. Massive reduction in our ability to save and no more “buy whatever we want” but it’s still comfortable. And I assume I would want to do something (once I catch up on my miles long to do lost) again someday.
Anyway sorry for the wall of text. What I’m really interested in people that have regretted doing this. I think there’s a bit of a stigma around regretting spending more time with your kids and so I’ve seen those perspectives already a lot more.
In other words - who had a really hard time going back to work after? Whose spouse lost their job and they had to struggle? Who wished they could buy their kid something or pay to have something fixed or a new experience instead of having those extra few minutes each day?
Thanks in advance.