<p>…agree and I am sure many of us would not be thrilled.</p>
<p>Yeah, I am just dealing with the deadline issue for school selection with lots of concern and the reality of the end of the college process that has consumed a lot of our emotional energy over the past two years, if not a good bit of our expenses and time. So, call it sour grapes a bit as it turns out there were more compelling candidates, the admissions info from last year was not highly applicable for this year as a guide, and there were less obvious admissions criteria playing in the background that led to more than a few surprisees in outcome. </p>
<p>What would I have done? I would have worked less and been more present in our family life. I haven’t stopped working since I was 14 except 6 weeks off for each maternity leave. We believed that it was worth it to try to live in a community where education was valued, where more opportunity might exist, etc so that our kids could have a better shot at life. It has been challenging for all of us - my kids had to find their own rides to practices, etc, have done their own laundry, cooked their own dinners, come home daily to an empty house. Clearly, not real adversity but the lives of kids with two full-time working parents, whose income might suggest comfort and ease, is not always easy - it has been a pretty stressful 7 years of high school/college actually trying to balance professional demands and actually be involved in school, monitor homework stuff, attend events, and have dinner. For us, because of our occupations, work drives the lifestyle probably more than some. My S has already told me that his wife will not work after he has kids (smile, hope that’s an option for them) so I suspect he has internalized more negative than positive things about my working. I should mention we live in a community where most Moms do not work or are working very part-time - a poor choice for a community, most likely. Anyway, rambling here. We have all benefited in other ways from both of us working so not sure I wouldn’t work - I just might have worked less and chosen a different community to live in. You are correct we live in our times for good or for bad.</p>