It is with great sadness that I announce

That I am resigning as an Ivillage Community Leader. This is not a decision that I made lightly. It’s been heart-wrenching for me and it’s a decision that I have been struggling with since December. There are several reasons for this decision. My Grandma needs my time and attention. My kids are getting older and while I thought they’d need me less, they need me more. I am becoming very involved with Brooke’s baton group and am now heading up the fundraising. And I need more time with my family.

When I first joined iVillage and started posting in 1999 this forum filled a huge void in my life. All of my friends from school had moved out of state except one and she has 4 kids and little time to socialize. I had developed a stomach condition soon after Tyler’s birth and was pretty much homebound. Posting on the boards let me make friends, get support and offer advice, and keep my mind working. When the CL of the Shoestring Budgeting board announced she was resigning and she and another member asked and encouraged me to apply for the job, I jumped at it. I have loved being a Community Leader. I love all of you like dear, life-long friends. But right now I am running on Superwoman mode. I am struggling to be there for my husband, my kids, my Grandma, my 4 boards and finding little time for me. I get up at 6am and hit the boards. I juggle them with getting my kids ready for school and out the door, then I am off to do what everyone else needs done. If my Grandma needs something , but it’s chat day, then I have to rush to make it home on time. If I want to volunteer at the school, I can’t do it chat day or I have to leave early to be home on time. The newsletters I make take me an entire weekend to put together and nothing else gets done. Never mind that the board websites are hopelessly outdated and need a clean up.

Some of you may remember the breast cancer scare I had last year. Dh and I have always been really close, but that really brought us together in an amazing way. And in the middle of all of that, I finally found a doctor who was able to give me a solution to my stomach problem. I can now go and do and feel free again. With dh home during the week a lot, I want to be free to spend time with him. I want to be free to take my kids on vacations and spend time with them. I can’t take feeling guilty about not being on the boards every time I go away for a day or two, and it’s not fair to all of you for me to not be able to do my job anymore.

I don’t want to resign. I love these boards and all of you. I HATE the thought of someone else taking my place here with you, doing my job. But something has to give, before my sanity does. There are nights that I lay awake trying to figure out how I am going to get everything done in a day. The only solution I can think of is to resign.

I wish you all long lives filled with much happiness. You have all touched my life in a way that I can’t even begin to describe. Good luck with your pregnancies, new babies, marriages, jobs, etc.

If anyone would like to keep in touch, please do! I'd love to email and hear how you are doing! I will keep my cl_frugalmom_of2@hotmail.com address open!

Sherri