Work-Life Balance for an Actress turned SAHM

What's it like to be a SAHM after spending most of your professional life as an actress?

Aussie actress Rachael Beck, who's 37 and has a daughter the same age as J, is very honest about her struggle.

"I definitely wanted to be home with her for the first two years. It (motherhood) has gone from wonderment to exhaustion to 'I can't cope' to 'I'm on top of the world' - the absolute gamut. I don't think any mother really copes, and anyone who says they cope is telling a fib. 

It is such a life-changing thing in so many ways. It stretches and pulls you and tests you and makes you grow. 

It has deepened me as a woman and as a wife."

Of taking a professional break, she confesses, "I can't lie to you and say there haven't been times of frustration, of having to say 'no' to fabulous things that have been offered to me."

On the SAHM vs career woman debate, she is remarkably realistic.

"There are some women who are absolutely fine sitting at home with their children until they go to school, or giving up work. I'd had a lot of creative time and it's something that is so inherent in me and a part of my happiness that I am a better mother when I can balance that."

Lessons for the rest of us?

• Be true to yourself. Know what makes you fulfilled and what drives you batty. Find a way to channel your passions and strengths in ways that add to you as a person.
• Don't waste time feeling guilty because you aren't, or can't be, a SAHM. Do what you can, live with the consequences, and move on. Life isn't perfect.
• Acknowledge your uniqueness. Just because everyone else thinks being a SAHM or career woman is the right thing doesn't make it right for you. You are unique. Acknowledge your right to see things differently and to find your own balance.
• Whatever you choose, choose it for the right reasons and after careful consideration of all that is important to you and your loved ones. Then stick with your choice, knowing it is the best you can do in the circumstances. Don't beat yourself up over what-ifs or let regret dominate your life. And remember there is no medal for martyrdom. If you decide to give up your career, do it because you believe it's the best thing for your family, not because you want people to know how noble or self-sacrificing you are.