I’ve always known that should I have a family, I would want to be the kind of mother and wife who was emotionally and physically available to meet the needs of my children and partner. There was no compromising that, and so far in my nearly five years of doing both, I’ve done everything I can to live up to my own expectations.

As an individual, I have always been ambitious and full of ideas that I wanted to bring to life. I chased career moves that were supposed to add up like a big jigsaw puzzle to make this amazing big picture. Not every move worked. My ambitions could never be placed above the family’s well-being, and while I sought the best way to support and compliment them, this resulted in a couple of career changes, but also led me to make some decisions that I would possibly live to regret.

A year ago, I quit my teaching job. I loved teaching, but it wasn’t paying enough to make a difference to my family’s finances, which in turn was starting to affect my mental health and (indirectly) affect my husband’s physical health. Worst of all, it seemed to be absorbing so much of me that there was barely anything left for my family at the end of each day.