When I Grow Up.

Recently I was out on a play date with a very good friend of mine who I used to work with in my former life. My former lawyer life. The one where I worked 60 plus hours a week. The one where I was constantly exhausted, constantly stressed out, constantly checking my blackberry waiting to hear from my terror of a boss about how she would have done everything differently. 

You get the idea, work in general sucks. The worst part, I had to wear suits and pantyhose, yes pantyhose. Clearly not hot. Now I spend my days in my casual fabulousness, drinking lattes, playing at the park, working out, hosting play dates, generally loving every minute of my life.

I thought that everyone around me knew how incredibly fulfilled I feel. How much I love being a stay at home mom. How I never want to go back to my former life. Clearly I was wrong.

So I was at said play date commenting to my friend about how much fun it was to be able to go to the park everyday with my little man. This is when my friend turned to her daughter and said, "you know how we always talk about what you want to be when you grow up?" "Yes Mommy," she innocently replied. To which my girlfriend responded, "well if you work really hard, and go to law school, then one day you too can spend you days lunching, working out, and sitting in the grass just like Yum." Punch to the gut.

It wasn't so much what she said, but rather how she said it. Insinuating that I was some kind of failure, or maybe some papered housewife. What about the fact that I worked really hard to get here, and that maybe some things are more important that my career. Like I don't know, watching my kid grow up. Wasn't the whole point of the women's movement that we wanted a choice, if we are lucky enough to have one? 

I am confident in my choice, and in the end that's all that matters. I just wish I could let it stop bothering me what other people think I should be doing with my life.