Chance is a social creature -- there have been times when he's been mad when I picked him up early, too ... And peers are important, I agree. My apprentice Karin and I have talked about how having a job actually keeps you a more balanced person.
I so wish that we had more public transportation options. I would have a few more if I lived in Nashville-proper, but between Nashville and Murfreesboro there are two bus runs each day. One only lets you work 7.5 hours and one means a 12 hour day. They are ridiculous. Charlotte is WAY ahead of us in the commuting options.
I may look at negotiating more time from home. My boss is fairly reasonable and flexible, although she really puts a lot of emphasis on face time.
I'll probably still be trying to puzzle this out for awhile. Thanks for sharing your experiences and thoughts.
I found that daycare was good for Lia's socialization. I know that sounds trite, but it really did her a lot of good.
If you really like the idea of staying home, and it's feasable, then maybe you should try it. It's not that hard to stay intellectually challenged when you have hobbies like the SCA.
I've been a stay-at-home mom since Doug and I married. We figured that child care expenses would be about the same as any money I brought in, so it was a better idea for us if I stayed home. I haven't worked since, and it has been about 12 years
( ... )
You say hermit like that's a bad thing :-) Actually, I could see myself doing that ... And yes, re-entry is one of the things that I worry about if I do this -- I assume at some point when Chance is older I will want to go back to work, and you're right about skills changing so fast these days ....
But time to write, do projects, cook, be a mom -- those are all very appealing.
I worked 50-60 hours a week until James was a year old. Then we realized that we were paying 3/4th of my wages to childcare and the extra costs of my job. Then we decided to homeschool. I still worked often during this time... part time jobs at night (sometimes for you!) and did henna parties and appointments, tried merchanting in the SCA, and provided summer childcare for friends' kids. While my income was important at times, what our schedule mainly did was free Jim up for being able to work overtime. He made good money working overtime, easily the same amount I could have earned in a part-time job.
You know that I daydream often about staying home with the kids again and I probably will as soon as Jim is making enough money to support us again. Frankly though, little kids need their parents more. I am so thankful that I was able to be with the kids when they were little. I will never get that time back, you know?
I know about the time thing -- I think part of this might be realizing that he's not a little boy any more and freaking out about it One downside to our situation is that Thomas is salaried, so while he's being pushed to work overtime, it's not paid overtime. And he wants to do it -- he likes what he is doing -- and I want him to be able to do what is necessary to stay employed. We like Thomas employed :-)
My boss dogged me in my review yesterday for missing so many days of work and I had to point out that Thomas used to take all the Chance sick days and now he can't. Since he's new, I've been taking most of them. And that's going to continue ... After being lectured about it in my review, today I have to ask if I can leave early on Tuesdays because they're changing Chance's gymnastics class and because I work a frickin' hour away, I have to leave early to get him there .... It's these issues that I hate.
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I so wish that we had more public transportation options. I would have a few more if I lived in Nashville-proper, but between Nashville and Murfreesboro there are two bus runs each day. One only lets you work 7.5 hours and one means a 12 hour day. They are ridiculous. Charlotte is WAY ahead of us in the commuting options.
I may look at negotiating more time from home. My boss is fairly reasonable and flexible, although she really puts a lot of emphasis on face time.
I'll probably still be trying to puzzle this out for awhile. Thanks for sharing your experiences and thoughts.
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If you really like the idea of staying home, and it's feasable, then maybe you should try it. It's not that hard to stay intellectually challenged when you have hobbies like the SCA.
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But time to write, do projects, cook, be a mom -- those are all very appealing.
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You know that I daydream often about staying home with the kids again and I probably will as soon as Jim is making enough money to support us again. Frankly though, little kids need their parents more. I am so thankful that I was able to be with the kids when they were little. I will never get that time back, you know?
Reply
My boss dogged me in my review yesterday for missing so many days of work and I had to point out that Thomas used to take all the Chance sick days and now he can't. Since he's new, I've been taking most of them. And that's going to continue ... After being lectured about it in my review, today I have to ask if I can leave early on Tuesdays because they're changing Chance's gymnastics class and because I work a frickin' hour away, I have to leave early to get him there .... It's these issues that I hate.
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