ABSTRACT
A few years ago, I left a career in consulting, although at the time I did not think of it as opting out. I had young children and I was juggling my career with motherhood. My husband had a career of his own and although he was and continues to be a devoted father and husband, still, like so many women, I was carrying the brunt of the care of our children in addition to working full-time. Although I was tired, I pressed on because that was what one did. In 2003, when Lisa Belkin wrote her now famous New York Times column ‘The Opt-Out Revolution’, a good friend of mine emailed it to me and we have been talking about it on and off ever since. There was something about the article that appealed to us, and being working mothers of small children, we could definitely relate. While we would go through periods when we were fulfilled by our work, we would also have periods when we would wonder if this was really it, and was it worth it. Still I never considered opting out myself, even though there were times when I dreamt of living my life differently somehow. I just could not imagine how.
