I never thought I’d be one.   I didn’t exactly plan it, or want it. It just made the most sense. Three months after earning my Ph.D. and becoming Dr. Aarati Kasturirangan, I left the world of the career-focused and became an S.A.H.M. – stay at home mom.

Now, I stand at the edge of my time as a S.A.H.M. I  I have sang silly songs, kissed boo boos, run races, and wiped bottoms day in and day out for 4 years.  I cannot say for sure whether or not being a S.A.H.M has been better for my kids than if I had been a full time Ph.D.

What I can say  for sure is this: I am not the same person that I was before I became a S.A.H.M.  For four years I subverted my own intellectual needs in order to be the primary care-giver, for better or worse, or just for different. I have woven my children into the fabric of my being.  This new me, now steps into a new role. No longer S.A.H.M, but firmly grounded, career building M.O.M.

What will this look like?  I hope it will go something like this.  In the midst of an important  meeting, when I am feeling frustrated, tired, and at my wits end,   I will hear a small voice in my head,

“Knock, knock.  Who’s there?  Pee!  Pee who?  Pee ewe, you farted.”

May the wisdom of the S.A.H.M. stay with me always. There is no problem so big that can’t be solved by a good knock knock and or fart joke.

On your marks. Get set. Go!