Reminders

Be gentle with yourself. Feeling insecure from time to time is just part of being human 🫶 #millennialtherapist

This space is all about changing the language about career pauses for family life and this is a good one to take on. No, maternity leave or chapters of at-home parenting is not time off. Some people think it’s just colloquial conversation. I say it’s cultural messaging that undervalues the immense work of caregiving and family life in modern days and if we can change that messaging we empower parents to be valued, supported and respected during chapters of the non traditional work in the home. Happy Monday!

There’s a difference. For 7 years we’ve been championing an updated narrative about the modern “stay-at-home mom” to move past the caricatures from generations ago. Modern women on career pauses or downshifts to make room for the complicated, immense work of family life today have accrued more education and more work experience before motherhood, we have equitable relationships with partners with this generation of dads spending 3x the amount of time with children, we have access to digital landscape for flex work, education and ongoing growth and connection. And it’s imperative we update the perception so women choosing to pause or downshift aren’t counted out as giving up on ambition or expected to meet an ideology of doing it all on their own in the home. But lastly, we are finally at a moment where we are reexamining work and family and embracing a more nuanced fluid view that stands to unite women. Let’s not go backward and equate a decision to pause or shift for unique family needs with defending tradition. That’s what divided us generations ago and we have so much to gain by staying together.