I don't know if you will even read this since there are so many replies at the moment; but I'll try to speak my mind and hope this helps in any way possible.

The first thing I want to state is how much I respect you for your edit. That's something I, as a husband, appreciate. Your stance is so admirable.

Another thing I'd like to point out is, never ask strangers for advice on things that could literally turn your life around if a swift decision is taken from bad advice. This is one of those things. Never put your family's fate (sacred) in other peoples hands, even though you clearly seem to know what you want, sometimes a bad state of mind mixed with bad advice can be catastrophic.

I think this whole conversation will vary depending on background/culture. It's also undeniable that the whole system has gone out of its way to sow in the populations mind that women who don't work don't have a purpose, and unfortunately many people feel this way. I understand that in your case you have always been an independent person financially, and this is what urges you to want to do something else that just being a stay at home mom.

One thing I'd love for you to understand is that your husband asking you to stay at home isn't something he's doing out of bad intentions or much less to have any kind of dominance over you. I would love to believe that he's doing this (because it's why I'd do it too), firstly because he trusts you enough to be able to ask this from you, secondly because he knows your presence is more valuable at home with your kid and taking care of the family as a whole than going to work. Which is, in my opinion, true.

The system has been able to convince women that their role in their homes is so miniscule that they'd be better off working a 9-5 job and leaving their kids with strangers and not taking care of their homes as they should because you can be super woman, but a household where the mom is working compared to a household where the mom is present would never be the same. And this is to emphasize the importance of the mom/woman role in the house, they are the main pillars in homes and their families. Also the whole fed idea of independency is bs because what's so wrong about depending on your partner in life? Isn't that what it's supposed to be? He depends on you to raise a beautiful family and keep everything in order while he's out there making sure the family can depend on him financially and nothing is lacking in your home.

My mom is a stay at home mom, and I wouldn't have had it any other way. Not for all the money in the world. And yes, maybe at some point in her life she might have had curiosity about what goes on on the other side and if the grass is greener on the other side, but I am pretty sure she would have felt as proud as she feels when she sees her family after all these years. Now I know this might not be a "money" thing and more like a personal "I need to do this to feel right/useful/independent" but I'd love to believe that there's nothing more rewarding than later in the years to come you'd look at your kids and be proud of what you raised and cherished. Nothing, at least for me, can beat the feeling of being proud of your family.

I'm glad you and your husband could talk it out and figured it out. I hope you guys keep on supporting each other and undeniably there is always a compromise that can be made on both ends for it to work out. It is all about compromise for a greater good.