Mainstream Research:

Screen 24 of 52

The women have their own adjustments to make. Now they know how it feels to be the only one with a paycheck. "I really had to get my head around that," says Pat Sueltz. "I got nervous." Adds Lauri Shanahan: "I remember feeling, 'Oh, my God. I'm the only one.' I always like having options even if I never exercise them." By far the hardest adjustment for most women is giving up time with their children. Like a lot of traditional fathers, many of these mothers are weekend parents. They are grateful for-but also a little jealous of-the close relationships their husbands have with the kids. "In life we are always making tradeoffs, and to some extent I have made tradeoffs," says Dina Dublon at J.P. Morgan Chase. "I have spent less time with the children. There is an intimacy in the relationship between my daughter and my husband that, in part, is driven by the fact that they have spent more time together. This is some of the price you pay for spending more time away from home. I have made choices and tradeoffs over the last 20 years, and I have at times felt good about it and at times sad about it."