Working Mom to 2 Beautiful Kids

iVillage Member
Registered: 05-27-2004
Working Mom to 2 Beautiful Kids
1070
Thu, 07-06-2006 - 3:13pm

In reading the other posts here, I feel the need to give my opinion (my mother-in-law's phrase - opinions are like rear-ends -- everyone has one and some stink worse than others - LOL!).

I'm an accountant. Granted, my job isn't physically demanding, but at times it is mentally challenging. There are days that I go home and I don't want to cook supper - I'd rather get a bucket of chicken or grab the family to go to the Mexican restaurant down the road to eat. I work 40 hours a week.

As for family's suffering because I work, I think it's give-and-take. Because of my income, we can afford things we wouldn't otherwise be able to have. My kids are able to take piano lessons (yes, they want to - it was their idea), one is in the band at school (who knew a clarinet costs $1,300???) and plays softball and basketball, her little brother is playing football (again, I had to fork out $65 up front - there's no telling how much more I'll have to fork out once practices start!). We drive a minivan with an entertainment system, we get to go to the beach for a week each year. My kids are flying to Dallas next week (we live in Alabama) to visit my sister for the next week. Plane tickets are expensive. All of these things we couldn't do without my income. Since both of my kids are school age, the only time I don't see them that I would if I were a SAHM is 1 1/2 hours in the afternoon during the schoolyear and during the day in the summers. I take them to school - I pick them up at 4:30.

The sacrifices we make because I work - my house isn't as clean as I would like for it to be, my house is a zoo every morning, I have a MOUNTAIN of laundry to do on Saturday, I have to wait for vacation days or holidays to repaint bedrooms or rearrange furniture.

My sister and 4 sisters-in-law all have the luxury (yes, LUXURY) of not having to work. I can't call them before 9 am because most times they aren't out of the bed yet. They call me all day long while I'm at work - "whatcha doin'?" Duh, I'm working!! One of them is on the computer on and off all day long - I know cause I'm sitting here in front of mine and I can see when she logs on and off the messenger program. They wonder why I don't have time to hit this sale or that one. Well, after working all day, shlepping the kids to 14 different activities, I really would rather not go shopping.

One other thing I don't think SAHMs realize - we working mothers aren't shirking our household responsibilities. I still have the house sitting there, waiting for me to come home to clean it. Dinner still has to get to the table. Laundry still has to be washed. Kids still have to be attended to.

I think to each his own - I was a SAHM while my 2 were babies - I couldn't imagine another woman receiving those yummy baby kisses or catching those toddler falls. But that was my preference -- as tired as I am each evening, I can't imagine coming home and taking care of a baby!

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iVillage Member
Registered: 05-17-2006
Sun, 07-09-2006 - 10:01am

I said in the post...

429

Again like I said....saving for college is a huge priority for your family, just as it is for ours. However I am not the only one here who has said that it isn't a necessity.

Then in post

438

perhaps where you live. however, i am not the only one who has said saving for college is a necessity.

Now please tell me what perhaps where you live means? Looks like to me that saying that perhaps where you live people say saving for college isn't a necessity. If it were referring to something else maybe you could have been a little more clear.

Nice insult...thanks.




Edited 7/9/2006 10:12 am ET by copwife35
iVillage Member
Registered: 05-17-2006
Sun, 07-09-2006 - 10:05am

I don't know are we done? Perhaps you would like to jump into another debate I am having with someone else and then call it ridiculous too? Then get frustrated and ask me when I am going to quit. If you are frustrated or think it is ridiculous just dont reply to me or put me on ignore.

BTW I appreciate the insult. Debating without insulting someone is much more effective.




Edited 7/9/2006 10:07 am ET by copwife35
iVillage Member
Registered: 05-17-2006
Sun, 07-09-2006 - 10:08am
I didn't understand what you just said.
iVillage Member
Registered: 05-17-2006
Sun, 07-09-2006 - 10:09am
That may be the case in some places. However where there is a nursing shortage 2 yr RN are very employable. Where I live there is Baylor. The nurses with 2 yr degrees are popping out of school and start making $60-$75K a year, depending on their shift.
iVillage Member
Registered: 05-17-2006
Sun, 07-09-2006 - 10:11am
Thank you for pointing that out. I have found that when someone can't debate without insulting then it really is no longer worth it. I don't insult people on a debate board. It is just not worthy of my time any longer.
iVillage Member
Registered: 03-21-2001
Sun, 07-09-2006 - 10:11am

What's the difference?

iVillage Member
Registered: 03-21-2001
Sun, 07-09-2006 - 10:14am

If we had a second child and needed two carseats, we would consider a mini-van.

iVillage Member
Registered: 05-17-2006
Sun, 07-09-2006 - 10:15am
You are right. Minivans are generally much better on gas. I had a minivan before I switched to an SUV. That minivan did not get as good of gas mileage as my SUV does but I think it had to do with the fact that it was older. I would still have it if it weren't in the shop more than it was in our garage. I loved the minivan. I loved the power slider doors and miss them. I loved walking to my van on a hot day hitting the button so both doors would open and cool off the van before we got in. Worked great on rainy days too.
iVillage Member
Registered: 11-22-2000
Sun, 07-09-2006 - 12:52pm

<

429

Again like I said....saving for college is a huge priority for your family, just as it is for ours. However I am not the only one here who has said that it isn't a necessity.>>

But that's not all you said in Post 429. You also said:

"No a nurse with a 2 year degree in nursing can be a nurse manager. My step mother is a nurse manager in a large hospital in NC. She makes about $80K a year. Staff nurses here can make more than that with shift differential, and weekends."

Jennie's response, "Perhaps where you live," was addressing that part of your post.

The 2nd part of Jennie's post, about her not being the only person here who's said that college savings was a necessity, was in response to the 2nd part of your post, wherein you said, "Again like I said....saving for college is a huge priority for your family, just as it is for ours. However I am not the only one here who has said that it isn't a necessity."

Jennie can correct me if I'm wrong, but her meaning seems pretty clear.

<>

I just did.

<>

I couldn't have been any more clear because I didn't write the post. However, it actually was perfectly clear from the get-go, which is why I jumped in and said that Jennie had been talking about comments on this board, too.


iVillage Member
Registered: 05-17-2006
Sun, 07-09-2006 - 12:56pm
Well if had been clear to me then I wouldn't have posted what I did. But then again I guess I need to take that 3rd grade reading class.

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