Eleven years ago, I was a trial lawyer at a big law firm I loved. But I was working crazy hours, and we had one kid already, with another on the way. (Jesus – did I ever imagine two kids was hard??). And while I worked a lot, Erin was working even crazier hours in her pediatric residency – with plans for an insane neonatology fellowship. It wasn’t fair to the kids, and something had to give. Medicine was (is) a calling for my wife, but law was a j-o-b for me. So I took a leap of faith, left my firm (and my buddies), and accepted an offer from a crazy Australian general counsel to be his right hand man at a little known French IT company. While my chance to make law firm partner evaporated, and therefore my earnings potential obviously took a hit, the dollars I didn’t earn over the years and the glory I didn’t win in the courtroom were (are) meaningless when compared to the time I earned to nurture my kids. So while I celebrate eleven years as a corporate counsel, what I’m really celebrating is my decision to prioritize my role as a father and primary caregiver. Today I am prepared to admit that I’m actually happy with at least one decision made by the jackass otherwise known as Thirty-One-Year-Old Mike. Accepting that job makes the list of Top Ten Mike Decisions, behind epic choices like Marrying Erin and Attending The University of Chicago of course, but ahead of such notables as Queso For Breakfast and Not Giving The Toast I Wanted To Give At That One Wedding. So Cheers, Thirty-One-Year-Old Mike. But don’t get cocky.