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I left my career to be a stay-at-home mom. I didn’t expect to lose my identity.

by with No Comment Xpandfy

At 38, I faced the toughest decision of my career: whether I wanted to continue working.

I had been working since I was a teenager and had never considered not doing so.

When my husband and I got married, we discussed what our future would look like with children, and I naively thought it would all work out seamlessly. That I would balance my career and motherhood with ease.

Then reality hit.

I decided to stay home

As first-time parents, it was soon evident that the balancing act was an illusion. We decided that I would stay at home with our son during his early years, a decision that left me grappling with a weight I never saw coming.

The sleepless nights and endless diapers, those topics get talked about. What blindsided me were the invisible battles.


Mom holding newborn

The author quit her job at 38 to stay home. 

Courtesy of the author



On paper, we could make it on my husband’s income alone, but life isn’t as tidy as a piece of paper. I went in knowing that our lifestyle would change, becoming a one-car family, thrifting more, and eating out less, but what I didn’t anticipate was the way my relationship with money would change.

I felt guilty when I spent money

After two decades of working, I was used to making and spending my own money. I never felt bad about my monthly manicures, grabbing dinner with friends, or buying my husband a birthday gift.

Now, every time I wanted to purchase something a wave of guilt swept over me and I felt as though I was spending someone else’s money.

While my husband constantly assured me that it was our money, memories of my mom and step-dad arguing over who made more and therefore who was more “valuable” haunted me.

Eventually, I found ways to earn a small income outside a traditional 9-to-5, from freelance writing to mystery shopping, until I took on a part-time work-from-home job, which gave me a sense of financial autonomy.

My résumé didn’t matter anymore

Over the course of my career, I had built up an impressive résumé of experience, industry certifications, and specialized knowledge. When I became a stay-at-home mom, none of it mattered.

My days were filled with changing diapers, cleaning up spit-up from the oddest places, and all the other day-to-day responsibilities that come with parenting. I was left wondering if I was wasting everything I had worked so hard for.

What I wish I could have told myself back then was that my time in the professional world, combined with my time as the primary caregiver, would provide me with the insights and opportunities I now have.

But in the moment, I was too far in the trenches and simply felt as though I had let myself down. And the loss I felt went beyond my career. It was about who I was becoming.

My identity shifted

When I became a mom, I knew my identity would shift, but I didn’t fully appreciate how much it would impact me and how others would view me.

No longer was I greeted with, “How are you doing, Laura?” Now it was “How are you doing, mama?”

The identity of being a mom overshadowed all the other components of me.

Who was I now that I didn’t have an official title, now that I wasn’t receiving recognition for my contributions, and now that my biggest accomplishment was reaching the end of the day wearing the same shirt I started with?

I felt untethered. The old me no longer existed, the new me was in survival mode, and the future me was still being formed.

I felt so guilty

During my career break, there was a faithful companion by my side: guilt.

The guilt took many forms, from feeling guilty that I didn’t enjoy every moment to feeling guilty that I wished I worked outside the house.

I grappled with it alone until I found a group of women who understood. Some had taken a career break because they had always wanted to; others because it made financial sense.

When I finally said my feelings out loud, I felt understood, supported, and most importantly, seen. While it didn’t erase the guilt or my struggles, I was reminded I wasn’t alone.

Today, I have the privilege of working with women as they wrestle with these same emotions.

It turns out the journey that once felt like losing myself became the path to finding my purpose.




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How to make (or lose) money on snowfall predictions

by with No Comment Xpandfy

Snowfalls can now beget windfalls.

As Americans rush to buy essentials ahead of Winter Storm Fern, some are also buying shares on prediction markets, like Kalshi and Polymarket, betting on how much snow will fall in New York City.

Traders on Kalshi have bet almost $900,000 as of Saturday afternoon on whether more than 12 inches of snow will fall in New York City on Saturday and Sunday. Meanwhile, on Polymarket, traders have bet about $210,000 on how much snow New York City will see this weekend. The winning category is now 8 to 10 inches.

The storm is expected to bring heavy snow, sleet, and freezing rain to multiple states in the South, Mid-Atlantic, Midwest, and Northeast this weekend. The National Weather Service says the storm could impact some 180 million Americans. Thousands of flights have already been canceled.

Prediction markets allow users to buy and sell shares in the outcomes of future events, such as sports or elections. Polymarket also provides real-time updates, allowing bets to provide insights into how consumers and investors think.

Polymarket bettors correctly predicted nearly the entire slate of Golden Globe winners last week, prompting a celebration from Polymarket CEO Shayne Coplan.

“We have a long way to go to educate the public on the value of market-based forecasts, but you can’t deny its accuracy,” Coplan wrote. “People have more clarity about the world because Polymarket exists.”

The new markets are not strictly regulated, and some bets have looked a lot like insider trading. A last-minute bet on Polymarket earlier this month that Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro would be ousted netted strong returns after the US captured Maduro in a surprise raid hours later.

Snowfall totals, on the other hand, are perhaps less susceptible to market manipulation.




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Elon Musk says Europe’s biggest airline will lose customers without Starlink

by with No Comment Xpandfy

The CEO of Europe’s biggest airline is in an escalating war of words with Elon Musk over Starlink.

Ryanair CEO Michael O’Leary isn’t convinced by Starlink, Musk’s satellite internet provider, which is becoming more popular among airlines.

For example, Lufthansa — the German flag carrier which runs the continent’s second-largest airline group — announced on Tuesday that it would introduce the service. The following day, Scandinavian Airlines operated its first flight with Starlink.

However, as a budget airline, Ryanair is known for its no-frills offering.

“We don’t think ‍our ⁠passengers are willing to pay for WiFi for an average ⁠one-hour flight,” O’Leary told Reuters on Wednesday.

His comments sparked a debate on X. Musk said in a post: “They [Ryanair] will lose customers to airlines that do have internet.”

In a subsequent interview on Irish radio on Thursday, the outspoken Ryanair boss said adding Starlink would cost the airline between $200 million and $250 million a year.

“In other words, about an extra dollar for every passenger we fly, and the reality for us is we can’t afford those costs,” he told Newstalk.

“Passengers won’t pay for internet usage; if it’s free, they’ll use it — but they won’t pay one euro each to use the internet.”

He then hit back at Musk, saying people should “pay no attention whatsoever to Elon Musk.”

“He’s an idiot. Very wealthy, but he’s still an idiot,” O’Leary added.

Ryanair and its subsidiaries operate a fleet of 643 airplanes, which handled 206 million passengers last year. 2024’s statistics showed that it was the world’s third-largest airline group, behind American Airlines and Delta Air Lines.

The Irish airline’s low-cost business model allows it to offer tickets as low as 15 euros, or about $17.40. It focuses on quick turnarounds between flights, charging for add-ons like sitting next to your friends, and on-board sales, including scratchcards and duty-free cigarettes.

Every airline that’s announced Starlink deals so far has included free in-flight internet for everyone on board. So, even if O’Leary changed his mind, it seems unlikely that Musk’s company would let him charge Ryanair passengers to use Starlink.

SpaceX executives also took umbrage at what they said was incorrect information about the fuel costs incurred by installing Starlink.

“You need to put [an] antenna on [the] fuselage — it comes with a 2% fuel ⁠penalty because of ​the weight and ​drag,” O’Leary told Reuters.

Michael Nicolls, the VP of Starlink engineering, said in an X post that Starlink terminals have a more fuel-efficient profile than other airplane internet providers. He added that SpaceX’s analysis showed a Starlink terminal instead increased fuel costs by 0.3% on a Boeing 737-800, the model that makes up the bulk of Ryanair’s fleet.

“Hmm, must be a way to get that down under 0.1%,” Musk replied to him.

Ryanair declined to comment on Musk’s and Nicolls’ remarks when contacted by Business Insider. SpaceX did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

While US budget airlines have recently pivoted to offer more premium options under intense financial pressures, Ryanair has little reason to do so. Adding an amenity like Starlink would be at odds with its business model, especially if it were free for passengers.

Post-pandemic, more American travellers have been paying extra for more luxurious flights. Budget airlines have also struggled to compete on price with legacy carriers.

But on the other side of the Atlantic, Ryanair has managed to balance a spartan approach with financial success.

In its latest quarterly earnings, Ryanair posted after-tax profits of 1.72 billion euros, about $2 billion — a 20% increase from a year earlier. Southwest Airlines’ latest quarterly earnings were down nearly 20% year-over-year to $54 million.




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