after a decade home….now what?

this post appeared on www.thenewperfect.com – thanks for letting me be a guest blogger for a day!

For most people, falling leaves symbolize that winter is approaching.

But this is not just any winter for me. This winter marks a DECADE that I have been “home” with my kids. While this time has been amazing and exhausting, it is a period of time that will always be special to me (clichéd, I know — forgive me).

As the end of this decade approaches, I have come to realize that soon my boys will be making their own plans, studying with friends, and enjoying their interests with their peers. I can’t help but wonder, “Where does this leave me?”  As I consider what options might be available to me for re-entering the working world, I have never felt so isolated. I often wonder if there are other moms out there who are feeling the same way.

Recently, I sent a text to a close friend that went something like this: “I am in such a panic. I have to get a career.” My friend, who is a career mom, wrote back: “I am in a panic that I should quit every day.”  These two very different viewpoints made me think that there must be some way for moms to come together to help one another.

Over the years, as a mom who did not need to be somewhere, I always welcomed friends’ children on snow days, holidays — whenever their parents had to “report.” Now, I am hopeful that career moms might be of some help to those of us looking to get back into the “real world.”

Women decide to stay home or remain in their careers for different reasons, and I truly believe that in order to be at peace with that decision, women have to do what works for them. But it’s not easy after staying home for a number of years to try to “re-enter.” Where is my on-ramp? Should I go back to the same field or try a new venture? Can I go from being the CEO of a household back down to the proverbial mailroom? Is there any accounting for the life experiences, trials, and tribulations that the domestic goddesses have endured?  Although I loathe the term stay-at-home mom, we moms do have organizational and multi-tasking skills that should be extremely beneficial in the real world.

Here’s my idea: Women can help one another through simple mentoring, one re-entry mom at a time. Moms who have stayed in their careers could take a mom considering re-entry under her direction, helping her experience several areas of a field or new business while holding open a few doors.

sometime today – I am going to write a follow up here on my blog….sometime (it is on my list)