I’m a 35-year-old school administrator with a wife and three young kids (4, 3, and 1). My wife left her job during the pandemic to start a business that’s now growing fast and earning more per hour than I do, but my 50+ hour workweeks and frequent evening commitments are holding her dreams of expanding the business back, and our family, back.
Home life feels constantly chaotic, we’re both in survival mode, stressed, and not showing up as the parents or partners we want to be. We’ve already decided that I’ll leave my job at the end of the school year to be a stay-at-home dad, something I’m genuinely excited about, but I’m struggling hard with whether I can mentally make it to June.
The job is draining my mental health, my body is screaming to quit, and financially we’d be fine if I left now, but I’m weighed down by guilt about abandoning my school mid-year and the fear tied to walking away from a career that’s defined my sense of success.
I’m torn between wanting to prioritize my family/my personal well-being and feeling like I’d be a terrible person for leaving a great job at such a young age,especially in the middle of the school year. I’d really appreciate hearing from anyone who’s faced a similar crossroads or left a stressful but stable job to prioritize themselves and/or their families. Much thanks to anyone who comments, I hope you all have a great 2026!