SAHM vs. Working mom

#1 June 9th, 2011, 03:46 PM

Do any of the SAHM's wish they could be a working mom?

AND

Do any of the working moms wish they were a SAHM?

preciousgiftsmama · #2 June 9th, 2011, 04:06 PM

First I have to say I love your new siggy!!!

And I am a SAHM, as you know, and always have been. I love being a SAHM and homeschooling my kids. I think it would make me literally sick to my stomach to think of leaving them everyday to go to work. I am so blessed that this has been an option for me. If I had to work, I would do my best to work from home so I could still be with my kids and not pay daycare.

I used to run a 24/7 daycare out of my home in NC for the other military families. Some babies I would keep for days at a time while their parents were away working. I always tried to have a happy daycare that the parents felt good about leaving their kids at. Oh and I only charged flat rate $50 a week too

though that was back in 1993-1995, but not too bad for 24/7 day care.

.s.o.p.h. · #3 June 9th, 2011, 04:26 PM

I'm a SAHM and don't think I'd like working full time but perhaps part time. I'm going to be a SAHM and a student also in a month which I'm excited about.

mommytokem · #4 June 9th, 2011, 04:31 PM

I'm a SAHM and I love it. Sometimes I do think about getting a part time job but it would have to be nights and weekends so then we would have no family time.

Daffodil · #5 June 9th, 2011, 04:53 PM

I work one day a week (a 10-hour shift)...I LOVE it. I wouldn't mind doing one more day but I wouldn't want to do more than that. I think working part-time is the best of both worlds. I love spending 6 days with her and one day interacting with adults and being a professional. Its nice having the security if my husband ever lost his job I could go back full-time and we would be ok. But I know how blessed I am to have the option of staying home with her.

shockandawe · #6 June 9th, 2011, 05:30 PM

I'm heading back to work next month and I'm dreading it like you wouldn't believe. We can't live without my income as comfortably as we do - but I would give almost anything to be a sahm until she's in school.

Mom-Mom · #7 June 9th, 2011, 05:43 PM

I would love to be a sahm. I work full-time (5days/week) plus some ot every now & then. But we are a one income household, so it is not an option for me right now. I miss my old job, i made waaayyy more money and only worked half the week.

Jule'sMomInOR · #8 June 9th, 2011, 06:29 PM

I've been SO lucky to WFH so far but it looks like my luck may be running out soon. I loved WFH, although it would have been nice to do it part-time so I could still go to some of the moms groups and whatnot. I may be about to take a break from my career, which is very scary to me.

sfarrow3 · #9 June 9th, 2011, 06:40 PM

Well I'm a full time working momma and maybe I'm the odd ball but I do love working! I do sometimes think it would be great to be with my kiddos all day, but I have a fear of not being able to provide for my family like I would like. I want to give my babies way more than what I had so that keeps me going. Also this may sound bad but I also want to be able to finacially provide if something did happen with bj and I ( not that it would haha) but I also have a fear of having absolutely nothing and unable to provide for my kids if bj and I ever split.

MelKD · #10 June 9th, 2011, 07:04 PM

I've done both. When Josh was 8 months old, I started working FT for about a year, then went to PT for a year and a half. It was so difficult for me, but then he started getting to the Terrible Two's and all of a sudden, FT didn't look too bad anymore lol But, then I found out I was pregnant with Leila, so I worked PT through my due date. When she was 7 weeks old, I went back to work FT, and was away from home 12-13 hours a day - too much for me, with a newborn baby at home! After 4 months, I quit and have been staying home with them since February, even though we need more $$.

I DO NOT want to go back to work FT, but A) We want to move within a year or so to get into a better school district when Josh starts Kindergarten next year, and B) We are about to incur some unexpected expenses (which, if you read my most recent post, which I had deleted, you'll know what I'm talking about). So it looks like I'll be going back to work FT at some point soon

I actually have a great idea for a home-based business, but it would probably cost around $5000 upfront to get started, the likes of which we don't have right now, nor could I afford to finance at the moment either. So I'm hoping if I find a good enough job in the meantime, I can save up some money to get that started on the side, and ultimately work from home.

Karlie · #11 June 9th, 2011, 07:43 PM

I went back to work part time when Noah was 18 months old and did it for 9 months until Luca was born. I still own my job but intend to keep extending my maternity leave until Luca goes to school, or Josh decides to have a turn at being a stay at home daddy! Having been there and done that, I definitely do not ever want to be a working mum again unless Josh is at home doing all of the house stuff. It felt like I was running around in circles all the time trying to get everything done and keep up with everything. Plus daycare sucked, Noah was constantly sick, I was constantly using sick days and it just sucked. Being a SAHM is way easier!!

Alison79 · #12 June 9th, 2011, 08:05 PM

I work full time, but from home so I don't have a commute. I really like my schedule, DH is home with the kids in the morning, he goes to work at about 2:30 and I work while they nap/read quietly until 3:30. I do end up working a lot at night too because my job is about 50 hours a week. Sometimes I wish I could be a full time Mom since we homeschool, but I do love my career and it has a good work/life balance.

GinaOfAllTrades · #13 June 9th, 2011, 08:16 PM

Sometimes I wish I worked but the things I would miss out on keep me from doing it.

MelKD · #14 June 9th, 2011, 08:17 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Alison79

I work full time, but from home so I don't have a commute. I really like my schedule, DH is home with the kids in the morning, he goes to work at about 2:30 and I work while they nap/read quietly until 3:30. I do end up working a lot at night too because my job is about 50 hours a week. Sometimes I wish I could be a full time Mom since we homeschool, but I do love my career and it has a good work/life balance.

Alison, what is it you do?

AndiNW · #15 June 9th, 2011, 08:19 PM

I'm currently in month 11 of a 14 month maternity leave. I'm looking forward to going back because A) I make about the same as DH, so not working dramatically reduces our household income. B) I love our daycare. If it were not for such an amazing daycare, it would be much harder. Although I'm away from them, I know they are being stimulated in ways I wouldn't think of. Also, all totaled I get about 12 weeks off a year. So I get to be a part-time SAHM! DH WFH so he is a great help with throwing on a load of laundry, getting dinner started, etc.
I think with our maternity benefits here in Canada gives us a chance to be SAHM's at least for a little while. While I couldn't imagine going back to work in the first few months, going back after a year or so eases the pain a little (in my opinion - only because I've done it before).

Hollybear · #16 June 9th, 2011, 09:13 PM

I'm a SAHM and I have no desire to get a job in the near future. Like I don't even think about it, lol

I think if I didn't live in the area I did where I couldn't be as active as I am (with outdoor activities that don't really cost anything) I would probably want to work at least part-time, but I just love our little schedule, friends, activities, etc.

AmandaEliz · #17 June 10th, 2011, 04:39 AM

I miss being home with my kiddos. I used to enjoy my work, a lot, but I'm on a project I can't stand. The work is boring & the management is frustrating, so that really makes me want to SAH. Ideally, I would like to work part-time or at least WFH part-time (part-time on site). However, I am the primary income for our family, so being a SAHM or even a part-time SAHM just isn't going to happen.

I just applied for 2 positions that would make my commute much more managable. One job would cut 20 miles (each way) off my commute & the other would cut 30+ miles (each way) off my commute. Hopefully 1 of these will pan out.

SarahBethsMommy · #18 June 10th, 2011, 04:54 AM

I work FT (50-60 hours each week) but my schedule is very flexible. I am gone all day on Sundays and all day on Wednesdays generally due to the nature of my job. But it being summer I'm actually take the kids with me for a lot of my work. I have to say that most days I adore my job and such. There are a few days here and there that I think I'd rather be a SAHM, but those really are few and far between. HOWEVER, I'm quitting soon. I'm finishing nursing school in December and the last semester is very hard. So DH and I have scrimped and saved so I can quit for the last semester and then hopefully find a nursing job in December or January. I'm a little terrified by the prospect of being home all the time. But I'll be studying and doing my precepting (internship type thing), so it will be like I'm working while I'm doing that I guess.

Lilly Bella · #19 June 10th, 2011, 04:56 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hollybear

I'm a SAHM and I have no desire to get a job in the near future. Like I don't even think about it, lol

yep! I'm so blessed that dh has an amazing job. I can give my kids everything they need and want material wise and still be home with them every day. I thank Zach for this often, I don't take it for granted.

I do have a photograph business but that's for fun

a couple weekends a month I get to go spend a couple hours with brand new babies and pose them up and put on cute hats and headbands and take their picture! That's not work to me

It's so fun and the money I make goes right back into my business or is just fun money

starrsgirl · #20 June 10th, 2011, 05:38 AM

I'm so conflicted about this every day but there's a few things I figured out....

1)As we approach the 1 year mark, I've had my first pains of regret of leaving my full time job. This tells me that it wasn't so much that I didn't want to work full time, but it was that my maternity leave was too short. I think, had I been able to take a year/year of absence for a year and THEN go back, I would have been looking forward to going back. Stupid POS maternity leave in the U.S. Of COURSE many moms don't go back to work...leaving a 6 week old at daycare was TERRIBLE. I'm not a clingy Mom at all, but it definitely scarred me for life.

2) I don't think I'm a particularly good SAHM. Nor am I good at managing a household. And I really don't like the latter. If my DH would be a SAHD or if either of our parents watched Emmett, I would be great with going back. But I don't feel as comfortable with nanny/daycare situations.

3) There still has to be some better balance in the world. I wish more companies considered job sharing as an option. Or, I wish you COULD get a decent professional job at 30-40 hours per week. My last job was WAY more than a 40 hour work week....not to mention crazy night shifts, weekends, on calls. I know a lot of salary positions are like that (more than 40 hours) which is so hard for family time, ya know? I would totally be fine to take a pay cut and work less but those jobs are hard to find.

4) This is a long answer...haha. But I definitely want to go back to work full time/school when Emmett is 3 assuming he is our One and Only.