I went back to work full time when my daughter was 6 months old. She’s 1.5 years now and I STILL wish with every ounce of my being that I could stay home with her. I want to be the one responsible for all her care and I hate that I have to “outsource” that. This isn’t a jab at anyone who has others care for their kids. For me personally though, I deeply want to be there for every moment of my daughter’s first several years of life. More than anything, I just love being her mom. My husband says his salary isn’t enough for us but I KNOW we could make it work. We would continue renting rather than buy a house, cut big vacations, and stop shopping at Whole Foods since it’s so expensive. Things would be different but my daughter would have her mom with her 24/7 which is 100% worth the sacrifice in my opinion. Ugh. I don’t know what to do.

If you’re a full time working mom and wish you could be home caring for your child instead, how do you deal with this?