Comments on: Slowing down a career to have kids http://blog.penelopetrunk.com/2002/05/21/slowing-down-a-career-to-have-kids/ Advice at the intersection of work and life Thu, 04 Dec 2008 19:38:17 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.6.5 By: Andrea C>> Become a consultant blog http://blog.penelopetrunk.com/2002/05/21/slowing-down-a-career-to-have-kids/#comment-134969 Andrea C>> Become a consultant blog Sat, 02 Feb 2008 02:17:35 +0000 http://lolindrath.dyndns.org/lolindrath/wordpress/2002/05/21/slowing-down-a-career-to-have-kids/#comment-134969 Super post. My doctor urged me to start a family just after I turned 30. "But I just finished my MBA! I just bought a home to renovate! I don't qualify for maternity leave benefits yet! I've only got 8 years of work experience and I wanted to make director first! And I'm being pursued by a university's PhD program!" No matter. My doctor showed me the numbers on fertility and risk. I set about starting a family. Now we've got two little ones and my career has gone places I wouldn't have imagined. I'm still at home full-time, but I've figured out how to build my consulting business around my family and I've started another business that allows me to earn money without being present. Having kids has actually made me use my MBA, because I don't think I would have figured out new business models without the time pressures. And I'm glad I started a family when I did, because so many friends have struggled with infertility and miscarriages and high-risk pregnancies. You can plan a lot of things, but sometimes you just have to realize that having babies can't really be scheduled. Super post. My doctor urged me to start a family just after I turned 30. "But I just finished my MBA! I just bought a home to renovate! I don't qualify for maternity leave benefits yet! I've only got 8 years of work experience and I wanted to make director first! And I'm being pursued by a university's PhD program!" No matter. My doctor showed me the numbers on fertility and risk. I set about starting a family. Now we've got two little ones and my career has gone places I wouldn't have imagined. I'm still at home full-time, but I've figured out how to build my consulting business around my family and I've started another business that allows me to earn money without being present. Having kids has actually made me use my MBA, because I don't think I would have figured out new business models without the time pressures. And I'm glad I started a family when I did, because so many friends have struggled with infertility and miscarriages and high-risk pregnancies. You can plan a lot of things, but sometimes you just have to realize that having babies can't really be scheduled.

]]> By: Jenny http://blog.penelopetrunk.com/2002/05/21/slowing-down-a-career-to-have-kids/#comment-133891 Jenny Thu, 10 Jan 2008 15:43:31 +0000 http://lolindrath.dyndns.org/lolindrath/wordpress/2002/05/21/slowing-down-a-career-to-have-kids/#comment-133891 Hi! Thanks for this article. My life has gone, well pretty much not the way I had planned. I got married young at 18 and thought that was perfect! I went to college as a married woman and started my career that way as well. I had the ideal situation -- however, I underestimated how much a young woman does change when she pursues a career. I've spent the last 10 years of my life completing a BS in Comp Sci, almost done with my MBA and already managing a large number of people, early in life (happens when you work and finish your BS at night). So, my marriage ended in divorce after 9 years because we never grew into a couple that felt comfortable bringing a baby into the world together. It's been a year since our seperation and I am slowly entering back into the dating scene now (omg does it suck -- but does have some fun elements to it as well). I think its interesting to be 28 and basically single for the first time. I own my home, have a great career and can really truly take care of myself. I thought all those things would be wonderful attributes for a single gal but I am finding that men are somewhat turned off by it. Number 1, I am a relationship kind of person, which is why I held off dating until I could really devote time and energy into a relationship/someone new and 2 I don't really have the time to be dating multiple people due to well working and taking care of my life essentially. Men's comment to me so far is I am very strong and a bit intimidating. All of this is so shocking to me, being where I am in life and was pretty much able to ignore other men and the dating thing until now LOL. But, I would love to have children, at least 2 and had always planned to start a family in my late twenties early thirties and have always understood that people's comment of "you have plenty of time" was basically them telling me what they thought I wanted to hear. So now, I am single and no clocks are ticking but I am aware of what I would like to have out of life and I'll never be able to ignore that. So, hopefully, I'll be able to achieve my goals, still, and won't have to worry about waiting too long to have children. But, I realize we all have a plan and a purpose and I'll get there one day at a time. Hi!

Thanks for this article. My life has gone, well pretty much not the way I had planned. I got married young at 18 and thought that was perfect! I went to college as a married woman and started my career that way as well. I had the ideal situation — however, I underestimated how much a young woman does change when she pursues a career. I've spent the last 10 years of my life completing a BS in Comp Sci, almost done with my MBA and already managing a large number of people, early in life (happens when you work and finish your BS at night). So, my marriage ended in divorce after 9 years because we never grew into a couple that felt comfortable bringing a baby into the world together. It's been a year since our seperation and I am slowly entering back into the dating scene now (omg does it suck — but does have some fun elements to it as well). I think its interesting to be 28 and basically single for the first time. I own my home, have a great career and can really truly take care of myself. I thought all those things would be wonderful attributes for a single gal but I am finding that men are somewhat turned off by it. Number 1, I am a relationship kind of person, which is why I held off dating until I could really devote time and energy into a relationship/someone new and 2 I don't really have the time to be dating multiple people due to well working and taking care of my life essentially. Men's comment to me so far is I am very strong and a bit intimidating. All of this is so shocking to me, being where I am in life and was pretty much able to ignore other men and the dating thing until now LOL. But, I would love to have children, at least 2 and had always planned to start a family in my late twenties early thirties and have always understood that people's comment of "you have plenty of time" was basically them telling me what they thought I wanted to hear. So now, I am single and no clocks are ticking but I am aware of what I would like to have out of life and I'll never be able to ignore that. So, hopefully, I'll be able to achieve my goals, still, and won't have to worry about waiting too long to have children. But, I realize we all have a plan and a purpose and I'll get there one day at a time.

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