I used to think the craziest thing that would happen to me this year was getting a $840,000 job offer after years of being a stay-at-home mom. But it turned out the most shocking part wasn’t the offer itself—it was my husband’s reaction.
I’m 32 years old. My name is Gale.
For a long time, I believed my life had already settled into its final shape. I was a stay-at-home mom with two kids: Lauch, six, and Sky, three. My days revolved around school drop-offs, meals, tantrums, endless laundry, and cups of coffee that always went cold before I could finish them.
After Sky was born, I realized something in me had changed. I loved my children—there was never any doubt about that. What hurt was the feeling that I was no longer a whole person. I felt like a machine on repeat: feed the kids, clean the house, clean it again, and start over.
Before I had kids, I was an athlete. I trained, competed, and coached. My body felt strong and familiar, like it truly belonged to me. After two pregnancies and years of exhaustion, I barely recognized the woman in the mirror.
