Answering "What Do You Do?" and Other Awkward Lessons as a SAHM

Reflecting and myth-busting after one year on a career pause.

I quit my job.

Last year, I did. And by job, I mean the one that was paying me every two weeks.

Six figures and adult co-workers, see ya. New tiny boss who doesn’t know how to use a computer, hello.

If you’re assuming I gave up a pretty decent income for really good reasons, you’d assume correctly. I wrote about that decision here. However, making the choice to shift my full-time career in brand marketing to full-time caretaking can often throw people off, myself included.

There was zero transition period into my new role as “Mom on an Indefinite Career Pause.” One day, I was fully seated in the “Working Mom” category. The next, I was unemployed by society’s standards with zero time to myself anymore. There was no manual for my first week, no welcome basket, and no accolades in sight for a job well done. Less pressure? Forget it.

Perhaps because I wasn’t handed any tools for how to navigate the biggest career metamorphosis of my life, I wasn’t equipped to handle the seemingly straightfo…