To Work or Not to Work. That is the question.

By far, the most popular question any woman receives after the birth of a baby is what her decision will be regarding going back to work.  I think the reason it's such a popular question is because it's easily one of the most debated decisions for many new moms these days.  New moms have SO. MANY. DECISIONS. to make regarding their new addition, and it seems as though all of us are trying very hard to make sure we get it right.  Ultimately, I believe every woman out there is trying to make the best decision for her family, and that decision will vary depending on family values and goals.  It's a decision I've definitely been weighing lately, and I'm certainly thankful to have the flexibility to make a choice.  

I work in financial services and several years ago I worked very hard to start a business as a financial advisor at Edward Jones.  This involved studying full-time for weeks to earn my Series 7 and Series 66 licenses and then door knocking to obtain clients. I knocked on strangers doors.  All day.  Everyday.  For months.  I ultimately decided that Edward Jones wasn't the best structure for me to build my business, but wanted to stay in the industry to have the opportunity to really evaluate all my options and learn as much as possible before jumping back into an advisory role (which I do hope to do....someday).  I've always been passionate about financial education, and I am especially interested in educating women and children.  While I was at Edward Jones I had a number of women clients tell me that no one had ever  taken the time to explain things to them in such a clear manner, and in those moments I felt like I had found my sweet spot.  I loved working with my clients, but the first several years of building a business as an advisor are extremely  demanding; at the time I also knew that babies would be in the not so distant future.  With that in mind, I knew my attention would need to be at home as opposed to building a business and working 60 hours a week, and I left Edward Jones.

Fast forward to today.  I still have my Series 7, Series 66, and Insurance licenses, and I'm currently working for a financial advisor.   The licenses I have enable me to make securities recommendations and provide overall investment advice.  If I were to leave the industry, I have only two years to regain employment at a Broker Dealer, or my licenses expire.  If licenses expire and I want to get back to work, I have to be hired by a Broker Dealer who is willing to sponsor me to re-take the exams and basically start from scratch (there are also a number of other factors I won't bore you with here).  The financial services industry is known for being a male-dominated industry (only 1 in 4 advisors are female), and rules like these don't make it any easier on the ladies.

So.  After taking all of that into consideration, and knowing that ultimately I do want to be an advisor again, I'm very thankful to be working part-time (two days a week).  Chris was extremely supportive, although he's said if he had to choose it'd be much easier to have me at home (and that's true).  The logistics of taking care of a little human are ridiculously complicated for what seem to be such simple tasks.

Adelaide rocking the carrier on a rare day at the office with me.

I truly admire all the full-time working moms AND the full-time stay-at-home moms out there (this should really be re-termed work-at-home moms).  I'm running at max capacity just getting out of the house for work two days a week, and I think I'd quickly run out of steam trying to do the morning shuffle every. single. day.  I also give mad props to the women who choose to be at home because they sacrifice much more than most people realize.  Stay at home Work at home moms are diligent at running their households and doing thankless tasks such as butt paste application and spit up stain removal every single day.  Let's all remember that there are NO vacation or sick days for the stay at home mom crew.  I've also found that they rarely get to enjoy a warm meal or hot coffee.  It's not all roses and butterflies.

Perhaps my Grammy summed it up best at Easter dinner, "A Mother's work is never done."  Regardless of whether you work outside of the home or not, we're ALL working non-stop and doing the absolute best we can.