Peggy (left) is a mother of four who chose to work outside the home while her children were growing up. Another mother, Lynne (right), made a different decision. She quit her high-powered job to stay home with her two daughters. How do these moms feel about the decisions they made many years ago?
"Looking back, my biggest regret is that, for me personally, I missed being with my children and seeing them take their first step," Peggy says. "I missed all their precious moments. ... I cheated myself by continuing to work full time."
Although Lynne saw her children take their first steps and heard their first words, she questions her decision. "I regret [that] by staying at home, so much of me was given to my children and to my family that I kind of got put on the back burner," she says. "In my children's eyes, I'm successful at running my home, cooking dinner, feeding the dog and picking them up from school. I think I did what was right for the girls. Then there's the other part of me that says, 'But what about me now? What about what I gave up?' I want a part of me back."
When Peggy's daughter became a mother, Peggy told her not to follow in her footsteps.
