u/greenhouse-flower

Im curious to hear from anyone who has transitioned to being a SAHM while still doing some freelance, contract, or part-time work.

I’m a designer in marketing and have been WFH for almost 6 years. I have a good job, but I’ve been feeling increasingly burnt out and disconnected from my career. My son is almost 2 and we currently have a nanny who cares for him while I WFH. Ive been considering stepping away from full-time work temporarily so I can be present more with him, while still taking on some smaller projects when possible.

I see myself eventually returning to full-time work, but I’m wondering what it’s actually like to take a step back from a career for a period of time, especially when you still want to keep a foot in it.

For those who’ve done something similar, I’d love to hear your thoughts. And honestly, I’m happy to hear any thoughts or experiences around this in general!

Quick background: I work full time in marketing, my husband works from home too, and I pick up freelance work here and there. We have a nanny 3 days a week and family helps out the other days so our son (not even 2 yet) isn't in daycare. It's honestly been a really nice setup.

Problem is our nanny is leaving sometime after the new year for family reasons, so now we're back to square one on childcare. Part of me is kind of relieved bc it's forcing a decision I've been dancing around for a while.

I've always been on the fence about being a SAHM. Torn, not just "oh I could never" or "I'd love that." I like my job for the most part but I've been burnt out lately, and with AI being shoved down our throats it's got me thinking about a lot. Maybe this is the nudge to just do it.

We're in a low cost of living area, husband carries our insurance, but I actually make more than him. So it's not like staying home would be financially painless, but it's not impossible either. I've thought about freelancing/contract work on the side too, just to keep a foot in the door in case I want back in later. But the job market is rough right now and who even knows what it looks like in a few years. At least I have some connections still.

My husband and I have talked about it, we're not rushing into anything, just letting it sit for now since we have time before the nanny actually leaves. We had an awful experience finding a decent nanny twice now (first nanny was temporary, then after some duds, people accepting, not showing, etc, we found our current one).

Was anyone else in a similar spot, on the fence for a while and then had something (job loss, childcare falling through, burnout, whatever) basically make the decision for you? How did it end up going? Trying to figure out if this is a sign or if I'm just reading into it bc I'm tired lol.

Thanks in advance <3

Edit to add: even if you were never in a similar situation, any pros and cons, or something you want to share about being a SAHP would be helpful.