Plans

I've been hesitant to write about this here, but most of those closest to us know already that we're anticipating a major change in our household come September. No, I'm not pregnant. I mean that would be little outrageous, not announcing that on this blog until I was 7 months along, right?

Actually, the big change is that I will be staying home. My clerkship ends in August, and we have decided that what we want is for me to be home for a while. To spend more time with Tobin. To hopefully take care of a younger sibling for him sometime soon. To feel less pulled in too many directions. To have more flexibility in our schedules to spend more time with our extended families, who live too far from us. To simplify our lives and focus on what is really important.

We've been talking about this for a while now, thinking it over, praying, and trying to plan. I don't enter this new phase in our life without some trepidation. I mean there was a time (pre-mamahood) that I never really contemplated not working. I have no illusions that this will be a breeze for me. I know too many women who do the hard work of being home with their children full-time to think that it is somehow less challenging than working outside the home. On the practical side, it will obviously take some sacrifices for us adjust our lifestyle to one income. Still, we believe it's what's right for us at this point in our lives. I've recently made a transition to really just looking forward to this new phase, instead of worrying about it, oh about 65% of the time. Of course, that's just how I process things: I usually have to fret awhile before I embrace the positive side of upcoming change. Hence, my hesitancy in writing about it here.

So my last day on the job is August 29. Put another way, Tobin becomes my full-time boss August 30. :) Not that he isn't already increasingly "in charge" of our lives already...