Last week Thursday, I gave thanks for good health and family, for friends and food, and especially for my husband. He wholeheartedly supported my transition from attorney-with-paycheck-and-health-insurance to stay-at-home-mom-of-one-plus-cats. And he treats it like the hard work that it really is — and that support that is vital to my sanity and my heart.

I didn’t grow up wanting to be a stay-at-home mom. Nope. I thought that housewives were archaic: relics of the black-and-white past that deserved to stay there. And really. Why would you stay home with your children when the world was brimming with possibilities?

But yes. That’s what I thought, and then this is where I am. I’m now a stay-at-home mom who plans dream vacations. It’s endlessly entertaining and also exhausting . . . and being a mom is the best job I’ve ever had.

Compare current position with previous jobs that were also fun-ish:

• Elementary Summer School Aide – My first job ever, and I was basically a glorified gopher. One perk was that there were lots of snacks, and one of my best friends was a classroom aide.

• Office Automation Clerk at the Hickam Air Force Base Command Surgeon’s Office – I did this for two summers during college and I loved it. My boss Liz was the best: no-nonsense and meticulous but also kind and funny and an amazing baker (hello, feminist role model. Hi Liz if you’re reading this!) Working on base was great because I got paid COLA, which amounted to an extra 25% per paycheck that was not subject to federal taxes. I learned a lot about the federal government and life in general. (One thing I learned: the DOD is NOT poor. NOT AT ALLLLLLLLLL).

• USC Bookstore – I organized Kiehl’s moisturizers, un-stocked boxes of STUFF, made sure that keychains had price tags, and re-folded hundreds upon hundreds of USC t-shirts. As a freshman, I could not comprehend how alumni would come in on a random Thursday and spend literally hundreds of dollars on USC crap. And now I am one of those people — joke is on me! I actually hated this job (our boss strongly discouraged talking amongst co-workers) but looking back on it, it was… okay. It was still just okay. I did make friends though, and that’s always nice.

• Law Clerk – I loved clerking after law school. Like law school itself after college, clerking for judges was yet another way to delay adulthood and entering the workforce.

  During the grossest and weirdest trial I’ve ever seen, I could not keep a straight face. I was in tears silently laughing and that’s when I knew that I was not cut out for trial work. I am one of those people who will think of something hysterical during a funeral and then pee a little trying not to laugh.

• Attorney – I love being an attorney because you never stop learning. Like literally you can’t — that would be malpractice. I will do lawyering again some day, just not right now.

• Luxury Travel Agent & Blogger – Current occupation. I get to write, I get to research, I get to send people on vacation of their dreams. It is a YAY job and I get to hang out with my kid all day. It is awesome.

So yes, like I said at the beginning. I have had some fun jobs, but being a mom = best job ever. Working moms and work-at-home moms equally. Best job ever.

THANK YOU to my husband for loving me and being the best and most supportive partner in the world. I love you!

#lovebiggertravelhappier
– M

TRAVELHAPPY | dream bigger, travelhappier

Follow me on instagram @travelhappier | like travelhappier on facebook
travelhappier is a licensed travel agency in HAWAII (t.a.r. no. 7250) and an independent affiliate of the SMARTFLYER