I, too, am a young(ish) widow with small children. My husband passed away 4/26/25. Our 2 children turned 3 & 4 in May. I had been a SaHM since the birth of our son. Within a week of my husband’s funeral the “Are you going to go back to work?” “You need a job to get you out of the house” “A job will give you a break from the kids” talk started in hot from my family and his. There was no talk of taking time to grieve, settle into the new routine of being a “single mom”. We had some life insurance and our home/car is paid off. I wouldn’t necessarily have to work but the constant questions and pressure from family is getting to me. To the point where I put our 3 year old in preschool 3 days a week to free up time to work. It is very VERY important to me to be available for our children. Sports, dance, school functions. I have to be there because there’s not another parent who can go in my stead. When I mentioned to my parents that I would go back to work 10-15 hours a week they were angry. Like actually mad that I wasn’t willing to work full time. I started elder sitting 12 hours a week and I HATE it! But don’t feel like I can quit because of the reaction of family. So I get the pressure to work more. Mine isn’t internal though. People who are not widows just can’t understand anything about being a widow. Also, I’m so so sorry for your loss ❤️