Hi. I'm Jen. I went from having a challenging career I loved to being a FT Mama. It was a full 180 from what I expected.

I was overconfident and underprepared for my new job. I was no longer a valued voice around the conference table. Instead, I found out there's no bonus for air-frying your 1,000th chicken nugget. No promotions for getting everyone out of the house without tears. No answers to the question, "Why is there ketchup on the dog?"

Children are absolutely wonderful little miracles from God. AND, they are also terrible little bosses. A co-worker yelling, "You are the WORST (fill in the blank) EVER!!" would definitely trigger a call to HR in any other business.

I was so fortunate and grateful for the opportunity to be the primary caregiver. Being there for the big "firsts" was amazing. At the same time, I felt like I was failing left and right. It seemed like every task was just an endless loop, with no finish line, Groundhog Day, over and over, every day. And I was being absolutely cruel to myself about it. "What is WRONG with me? Why don't I like this more? Why does it seem like everyone else has it together?"

I would never talk to my little boys that way, but it was my everyday me-to-me convo.