What would you do? SAHM or Corporate Life
Prefacing this with feeling very thankful that I’m in this situation and have these choices.
In November 2025 I gave birth to our first child and had 6 months of maternity leave. In April of 2026 while on leave still I was given a massive promotion and now make $200k annually. My benefits are free and I recognize I had a wonderful maternity leave. I returned to work in May.
For childcare, my mother watches the baby during the week. I work a high-stress consulting job with monthly travel.
My husband is an executive and makes $300k+ annually. We would like to have at least 1 more, potentially 2 more children. He has asked me if I would like to quit and become a SAHM.
I loved my 6 months home with our first child and do get sad that I don’t get to spend every day with her, especially as she approaches her first birthday and I realize how quickly she’s grown in the first year alone. Work takes out a lot from me and sometimes after work I find myself secretly counting down the minutes to bedtime so I can rest. It feels wrong to me.
On the other hand, I make really good money and worked really, really hard to get this huge promotion. Our household salary will cut by almost half if I do quit. My industry will be hard to return to if I take a break in my career. And I don’t know what toddler years are like or what having several kids will be like.
I’m afraid I’ll regret my decision, either way. Welcome any insights or advice. Thank you!