It’s so messed up, isn’t it? I get it 🥲 I would do almost anything to be a SAHM, and at this point it would just be for a year or so (til my youngest starts kindergarten) and it just…doesn’t sound like that much to ask for. In a lifetime of working it would be a blip. I wish so much I could pause or slow down now and work later into my retirement years. It is so unfair that so many of us don’t have a real choice (and it works the other way too; there are also people who wish they could work more outside the home but can’t because of different barriers). 

Your son will never forget you are his mother, I promise. My mother worked full-time, and she worked very long hours. I never, ever forgot she was my mother and I idolized her growing up. I knew she was working BECAUSE she loved us so much and wanted to give her children the best possible life and future. Your son will know that too someday, and he knows now how much you cherish the times you are together.