How I Got Here.

I was born to do great things. From the moment I came out, with my rockstar black hair and my constant need for attention, I knew, I would make it big one day.

As a very little girl, I wanted to be a veterinarian—until I learned that some puppies die. That was the end of that. Next up: CEO of Nike. I didn’t even know what a CEO was, but I knew I wanted my decisions to make the nightly news. I wanted to be sporty and glamorous. And rich.

I went to college and majored in business at a top 20 undergrad business school. I started working—as a professional brainstormer (my business cards actually said “Innovator”) while in college, at an international company with over 42,000 employees. Two years after graduating from college I began applying, and was accepted to a number of top 20 law schools. My path to greatness was taking shape.

And then I met my husband. And got cancer. And life changed.

I finished up my 3 years at my top 20 law school. Following law school, I got married, took a job at the number one firm in my new hometown (granted, it was a small barely suburban town---not exactly the high profile NY, LA, or DC firm I had envisioned)—and went to work.

On December 1, 2007, I saw two pink lines on a home pregnancy test. And life changed.

Through most of my pregnancy I was too sick to really dive into work, but I still put on the ever-expanding maternity suits, and went to court. Even though I had to run out of the court room, on more than on occasion, to vomit—I got such a charge out of my job. Winning a case put me on a soaring high. Losing *gasp* brought out even more fire in me. I loved the challenge.

On August 7, 2008, after 44 hours of labor, my son, the Tati-man, was born. And life changed. In ways I NEVER dreamed.

I had fought to get 10 weeks of maternity leave. The most my firm had ever granted before was two. I got 10. I was THAT good at negotiating.

On October 14, 2008 I returned to work. I could not handle dropping my 10 week old son off at a veritable stranger’s house—so I had my husband do it. I did not cry once at work. I focused on my job, refusing to look at the clock, until I noticed everybody else had left the office. Then I went to pick up my son. He was asleep in the arms of someone else (ok, it was our daycare provider, whom we had carefully selected and fully trusted). I took him from our new daycare provider’s arms and the waterworks came. Sure, he was only 10 weeks old and I knew exactly how he had spent his day—mostly sleeping, with 3 bottles, and more sleeping. But in my heart, I felt like I had missed a lifetime.

Fast forward about 10 weeks. I’d gotten used to the routine—although I still didn’t do daycare drop-offs, thanks to my husband. But I did pick my little man up every afternoon—sans tears. It is the week before Christmas. My husband comes home from work one night—and out of nowhere says “I think we would all be happier if you stayed at home full time”

**insert sound of record scratching** WHHAAAAAAAAAAAAT!?!??!

Of course I had been thinking it. But saying it was another thing. You don’t get to be the CEO of Nike by staying at home. But…life changes.

So we set about figuring out if staying at home was a real possibility. We did have goals that we didn’t want to sacrifice. We did not live frugally by any stretch of the imagination—we enjoyed eating out and shopping and vacationing. We didn’t want to give it up. Could we really have our cake and eat it too?

Turns out, yes. We thought we could. With a few minor changes (first step—sell our extra car—a BMW—my husband might argue that wasn’t a ‘minor’ change, but in the scheme of things, it was) and a few major changes (notifying my managing partner, out of the blue, on a Tuesday, that I would be quitting)…my adventure as a Professional Stay At Home Mom began.

I have been joking with my Husband that he should throw me a retirement party. He has made two comments (in addition to rolling his eyes, ha!) 1. I’m not retiring; I’m on hiatus, and 2. Being a Stay at Home Mom is probably the most important job in the world.

Touché. And besides…a “Hiatus Party” doesn’t sound nearly as fun.

So with that…I am on my way to a new adventure. One I never imagined I would take, but could not be more excited. I’ve already gotten lots of advice from friends on how I should go about excelling at my new job…and I decided to document the successes and pitfalls here, for anybody who might be following in my shoes one day.