18 Years in One Job to Life as a Stay at Home Mom

So that's it... on Monday, I put my two weeks notice in at a job I have had for 18 years.  Every year since I was 19 years old.  It sounds crazy to most people that at 37 years old, I would have already been at one job for 18 years and to others it sounds crazy that I would quit after 18 years to be a stay at home mom.

The fact is, I have already been a mom for almost 17 years.  My biological sons are about to be 17 and 15.  My youngest has Asperger's and was developmentally delayed and I worked nights when he was younger so that I could shuttle him to and from his doctor's appointments and therapy treatments and keep a job.  So why in the hell would I quit now?

Well, I remarried about a year and a half ago and last fall we got custody of my two step-sons who are 7 and 10.  (I also have a 21 year old step-son that visits here and there.)  It turns out that my youngest step-son needs some therapies and other help.  Meanwhile, we found out fairly recently that my 14 year old needs some therapy for scoliosis.

Of course, I could have went to nights again and taken care of their needs during the day, but a couple years ago I got sick with some auto-immune craziness (like so many moms with kids on the spectrum) so I don't want to put my body through the stress of working night shift again.

You might wonder where my husband is in all of this.  He recently finished college and started working in his desired field so it is important that he keep his job.  In fact, he had an interview last week for a job that would make up for the loss of my income but we don't know anything yet.  As for me, I am completely burned out at my job and I am in the last year of college myself (although I still don't know what I want to be when I grow up).

I am starting this blog to follow my journey into this unknown territory of becoming a stay at home mom.  I know in my heart that it is the best thing for my family but I have major concerns.  What about money, what will I do, will I get bored, will we be able to get by?  I also know that I am not the only one out there facing decisions like this.  So let's see how it goes going from 18 years at a factory to life as a stay at home mom.