General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: I Look Down on Young Women With Husbands and Kids and I'm Not Sorry [View all]TBF
(32,047 posts)and I've had the privilege to be in both situations.
For many years I worked in the legal field. Single, long hours, travel, responsibility and large paycheck (lots of OT in the 90s - I was a senior trial paralegal supervising cases).
I got married in my early 30s and attempted to work with a baby - that was hellish. I was trying to keep it to 9-5 (I moved to recruiting) and had to keep up with everything at home as well.
After the 2nd baby I retired. My spouse's income was high enough for us to manage and I was tired of trying to do 3 jobs myself (work, take care of baby, and house).
Now I stay home with my kids and have a cleaning service come in anyway - I spend a lot of time driving my kids to various activities.
In my travels I saw plenty of jobs which involved sitting in a cube, chatting with co-workers and making work last through the day - involving no critical thinking whatsoever. I put more effort into organizing my kids' sports and activities. I will say I'm glad I had the experience of doing both because I did have a number of years doing exactly what I wanted to do. I would even go so far as to say everyone should live on their own and support themselves in an apartment for a few years before getting married. If nothing else it gives you the confidence to see that you can do it. You can live independently and take care of yourself - which is important to know if you're going to have children (and I mean this advice for men and women).