Announcing: The Working Moms Fire Escape Forum

It is truly amazing how much life can change in just a few months.  Finding a new job with more flexibility has allowed our family to regain a sense of balance and catch up on life.  While we remain committed to achieving financial semi-independence, I have a new goal of helping other working parents find better opportunities on their own path to FIRE goals.

Only a few weeks after my return from maternity leave with the twins, and I was feeling hopeless.  I am the breadwinner of the family.  Even though we’ve been able to pay off a lot of our consumer debt, we still have some left and my student loans from law school.  In order to earn enough income, I didn’t see any option other than continuing to work in a traditional law firm.  But the job was just too demanding – especially with the long commute and new pressure for increased presence in the office.  It was clear that I needed to find a way to have more time at home.

I thankfully reached out to a good friend for help.  She was kind enough to listen through all of my issues over lunch, which was helpful and comforting.  However, she went a step further by turning the discussion into a brainstorming session.

Others may have just nodded along and reassured me that “things will work out.”  She made me face harsh truths, including that I would have to leave my job of eight years for something else.  Then, we discussed all of my options.  My friend shared information, ideas, and resources, along with her encouragement.

I want to return the favor by creating a forum for parents to help each other find better work options.

All of us have retirement as an eventual goal – no one really hopes to work up until the day we die.  The timeline is what varies among us.  Our family wants to achieve financial semi-independence by the age of 40.  Others are hustling away to be completely financially independent within the next ten years, or less.  And there are many working parents who are taking a more relaxed approach by aiming for retirement at a traditional age.

My vision for this forum is to connect parents who are searching for something that will give them more balance as they pursue their goals.  I want it to be a collaborative space for sharing information and resources, as well as brainstorming as a group.  We can help each other come up with new strategies.  And it doesn’t just have to be about finding a new job.  We can discuss the best way to deal with a variety of other working parent issues.

One of the reasons that I love having this blog is being able to pose questions to all of my lovely readers.  This forum will provide all of you with an audience that can help when you need some personal advice.  Please stop by and start a discussion today, big issues or the everyday stuff.  We all know how hard it is to maintain some semblance of a balance between the demands of our jobs and parenting  – let’s work together to make life a little better for each other.