7 months into my new role as a stay-at-home mom and I am still not at peace with myself. I think I have fared pretty well at being a mom but what if I fail at everything else?

So much of how I feel and what I am experiencing articulated here: 9 things I wish I’d known before I became a stay-at-home mom.

1. Confidence took a big hit. Checked.
2. World shrunk. Checked.
3. Cringe when asked, “So what do you do?”. Checked.
4. Not setting the best example for my kid. Checked.
5. Exhausted from staying at home with a young child. Checked, and for me it’s more a mental state than a physical one.
6. Envious of women who had found their own work/life balance. Checked.
7. Forever damaged my financial future. Checked, checked, and checked. This one pains me real deep.
8. I love the time spent with Olive and I am extremely grateful for it but I fear that I am actually regretting leaving the workforce, like I expected I would.
9. Everything has its price. Me being a SAHM is proving to be too costly.

So what next? What do I do moving forward? How can I find myself again? Not the mom-me but the me-me. How can I find the unbearable lightness of being when I feel like a huge rock is weighing down on me?

Note to self: Just gotta work it.