Early Retirement
I have officially retired. I plan to take up golf and go to brunch several days a week.
What, no? Not in the cards with three kids under five? Bummer. But I did finally give up active status on my law license. I chuckled as I clicked "retired" on the Bar's change-status page.
I left my firm about two years ago, but I maintained my license in two jurisdictions. I kept thinking something might come up or that I might want to pick up some consulting work. But with another baby on the way, it's pretty clear that I'm not returning to practice anytime soon.
Third kid = SAHM job security.
I don't think I have written much about leaving the law and making the transition to staying home. It was a wonderful change for the whole family. The numbers in our bank accounts aren't going up very quickly anymore, but there's no doubt in my mind we're all better off for it.
There are two kinds of days when I'm most aware of how much better life is this way: the awesome ones and the terrible ones. When we roll out of bed at 8:00, watch movies until 9:30, go to the pool, grab Chipotle, take a nap, and make a nice dinner? Heck yeah. Obviously. But when Karl is out of town, someone is barfing, something on the house or car is broken, and/or there are just a million things to do? Still yes. Sometimes I wish I could go sit quietly in an office by myself. But of course I didn't get to just sit there. There was work to be done and hours to bill and travel and another set of chaos to manage.
Both kids were sick last week. I just sat on the couch and cuddled them. No shuffling of meetings. No squeezing in an hour of doc review while they slept. No feeling bad about addressing the one most pressing problem and ignoring the rest.
Two years later, that's still a relief.
What, no? Not in the cards with three kids under five? Bummer. But I did finally give up active status on my law license. I chuckled as I clicked "retired" on the Bar's change-status page.
I left my firm about two years ago, but I maintained my license in two jurisdictions. I kept thinking something might come up or that I might want to pick up some consulting work. But with another baby on the way, it's pretty clear that I'm not returning to practice anytime soon.
Third kid = SAHM job security.
I don't think I have written much about leaving the law and making the transition to staying home. It was a wonderful change for the whole family. The numbers in our bank accounts aren't going up very quickly anymore, but there's no doubt in my mind we're all better off for it.
There are two kinds of days when I'm most aware of how much better life is this way: the awesome ones and the terrible ones. When we roll out of bed at 8:00, watch movies until 9:30, go to the pool, grab Chipotle, take a nap, and make a nice dinner? Heck yeah. Obviously. But when Karl is out of town, someone is barfing, something on the house or car is broken, and/or there are just a million things to do? Still yes. Sometimes I wish I could go sit quietly in an office by myself. But of course I didn't get to just sit there. There was work to be done and hours to bill and travel and another set of chaos to manage.
Both kids were sick last week. I just sat on the couch and cuddled them. No shuffling of meetings. No squeezing in an hour of doc review while they slept. No feeling bad about addressing the one most pressing problem and ignoring the rest.
Two years later, that's still a relief.
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