Dear Coleen

I FEEL very lost at the moment. Maybe it’s a midlife crisis, I don’t know.

I’m 47, I’ve been married for 29 years and we have six kids. All in all, it’s been a pretty good life – I love my husband and kids, and I know they love me.

A little over a year ago, I got my dream job and I’d worked really hard to qualify prior to being offered the position. It was hard juggling things with the family, but nothing new.

Then my second youngest son started to have problems with my being away so much. He has ADHD.

So, as I’ve done with previous jobs, I put my family first and quit.

In the past, quitting has never bothered me. There have been certain people and things I’ve missed, but I was always able to settle into being a stay-at-home mum again pretty easily. But this time I can’t. Every day is a never-ending circle of boring hell. When the kids are at school, I don’t even bother to get out of my PJs. I feel like a failure, as if my whole life has passed me by and I have very little to show for it. I have no joy in my life, no sense of pride or self-worth. I am lost. Please help. alone – I think many women around your age have the same feelings. It happened with me around the age of 50 when I started to feel a bit redundant and my kids needed me a lot less.

You know you’re not satisfied, but the problem is knowing what to do about it. You’ve acknowledged that devoting your entire life to being a