Oh, LNL, that IS what he wants - he thinks. Years ago, when the kids were quite little and I worked part-time, we used to say when they were teens I would go to full time and he would go to part-time.
But now - between my terrible bout with my thyroid disease (I had to quit work because it was making me too spacey and I was afraid i would start making mistakes in the busy urgent-care practice where I worked) - followed by H's infidelity and then my D's eating disorder (which required me to be home to monitor her 24/7) and now her home-schooling - I've been out of practice now for several years. And I must say, I really don't think I want to go back to ordinary clinical practice - this is why I am trying to figure out a way to make this medical coaching idea work.
It really wouldn't be practical for us to just switch roles - for one thing, he now earns twice what I could ever possibly earn (and he isn't particularly inclined to downsize his lifestyle at this point. Not that he's extravagant, but he likes to take exotic vacations, and live near the beach, which is very expensive, and I just know he doesn't like penny-pinching). And I'd be unlikely to get a job with the same benefits and liberal vacation time that H has. In fact, he always complained about my job when I had it!
Plus, frankly, as much as he gripes about his work sometimes, he does thrive on many aspects of it. He's a national figure in his subspecialty, and that matters to him. And he's the kind of guy who has to always be working on something. I'm sure he'll wear me out in retirement with his projects!
Anyway, I DO want to find a way to get back to working part-time - in part to take the burden off of him (although we live nicely on his income, and if he'd cut back his midlife spending a little, we'd be saving more). And in part because, even though things are good with us now, I do fear the possibility of him succumbing to his depression in some way again in the future - not necessarily an affair, but some other kind of crisis - and I'd like to feel prepared.
But anything i do has to fit within such tight boundaries - being able to supervise my D, not impinging on time with H when he's off, leaving me still free to travel and vacation with H and family, leaving me with enough time and energy to still run the home. It's a puzzle.
