Heart vs. Head: The work status decision

iVillage Member
Registered: 03-26-2003
Heart vs. Head: The work status decision
2102
Tue, 01-17-2006 - 1:03pm
Did you make your decision to SAH/WAH/WOH ft/pt based primarily on objective/tangible factors, or with your heart?

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iVillage Member
Registered: 11-18-2005
Wed, 02-08-2006 - 2:07am
I did not plan to sah. I never thought I would want to. It just turned out that way.
iVillage Member
Registered: 01-13-2006
Wed, 02-08-2006 - 3:39am
technically i am probably a pt time wohm - however because of the circumstances i never felt it really changed my work status. i have woh 35 hours in 5 years. the 7 hours i might be at the school in a given week as a sub are 7 hours i would have been there anyway as a volunteer, it did not change the number of hours my son was with the sitter. i am our schools sub of last resort, sort of, if there is no one else available they will call me. by the time i pay the sitter, i keep approximately $25 (of coure that is not taking out for gas and lunch), no where close to enough to pay the sitter for the time my son is there when i am volunteering. so you see the circumstances are a bit different than most.
Jennie
iVillage Member
Registered: 03-27-2003
Wed, 02-08-2006 - 7:28am

I never planned on sah. In fact, I told my future DH , when we were engaged that I would NEVER be a sahm. Life changes, circumstances change and gasp I change my mind (I discovered I was a practical parent).

We were able to have me sah because we made financial plans that included many different contingencies. We basically saved one post tax salary from the get go. That made us able to make many many choices we wouldn't have been able to if we had allowed our spending to require bothour salaries. It is a strategy that I would recommend to every couple to strive.

iVillage Member
Registered: 03-26-2003
Wed, 02-08-2006 - 8:57am
No, I don't believe that one minimum wage income is sufficient in all cases to support a family with multiple children (without WIC or other public assistance).

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iVillage Member
Registered: 04-09-2003
Wed, 02-08-2006 - 9:06am

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I feel the same.

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You don't part company with me, I feel the exact same way you.

Julia

Julia

Proud Mommy of Macey and Reece

iVillage Member
Registered: 01-15-2006
Wed, 02-08-2006 - 9:15am

ita with your statement cm........where pnj comes up with minimum wage families in this opinion, i just don't understand. *good* planners can be happy wohps who have a million dollar property, healthy college funds for their kids just as much as *good* planners can be happy woh/sahps who have tiny bungalows and one car.

p.s. cm..i thought of you the other day. there is a new girl at my dd school. her mother and i are in prayer group together and she sah. her dad owns a exxon gas station......has your dh ever considered the path of shop ownership?

 

iVillage Member
Registered: 06-04-2004
Wed, 02-08-2006 - 9:28am

To some people, the time they spend with their children during those years is FAR more valuable than any cash they might otherwise have made.

Wytchy

iVillage Member
Registered: 06-04-2004
Wed, 02-08-2006 - 9:31am

When they are older their immune systems are more mature and therefore it's not as much of an issue. I worry less about my 2yr old than I do my 1yr old in that regard as far as when they do inevitably pick up something (right now we're dealing with either influenza or RSV 6), and when they were smaller, I worried FAR more about my newborn than my then-1yr old son.

Wytchy

iVillage Member
Registered: 11-18-2005
Wed, 02-08-2006 - 9:32am

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ITA. I am sure that I am probably not saving as well for my retirement as I could have working. However, I will not be that bad off later and quite frankly, I do not care. I still would not trade in my SAH years just to have a cushy retirement.

Avatar for laurenmom2boys
iVillage Member
Registered: 03-25-2003
Wed, 02-08-2006 - 9:33am
Love your last line. So true. Kids need germ exposure to build up their immunity. They can't do that if they're getting purelled constantly. I was fairly lax with my kids and the germ issues (guess that makes me a bad mom, huh?), but they hardly got sick (except for their asthma which was allergy/weather induced).

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