Anyone staying home after kids are 5?

Avatar for grace5
iVillage Member
Registered: 03-26-2003
Anyone staying home after kids are 5?
11
Sat, 01-08-2005 - 10:15pm
It seems like there are a ton of young moms on this board (my kids are 3 and 5) and I am wondering, are there any of you out there where all your kids are in school or, are there any of you who are planning on staying home AFTER the kids are all in full-time schooling? Just curious! I would love to, but worried about long-term finances (saving for university fees, retirement!) I'm on the fence though... just love being able to dedicate to my kids 100%.

Pages

iVillage Member
Registered: 10-12-2003
Sat, 01-08-2005 - 10:42pm
there are several homeschooling moms on this board so i would assume most of us would say yes :) i will probably be a sahm until my youngest is in school and even then i will probably take a job that allows me to be off by the time they are out of school for the day until they are 12 or older. i'll have to see when i get there, kwim?

iVillage Member
Registered: 04-19-2004
Sun, 01-09-2005 - 1:07am

That's a great question. I've thought a lot about this and I might do that. There are so many crazy things kids do when they're unsupervised between the hours of 3-6pm. I don't know how expensive it is to have them in an afterschool program, but since I'm not a big fan of daycare or a lot of babysitting, I probably won't be too into an afterschool program 5 days a week. I don't know where dh's career will be - maybe he'll change jobs and we'll have to revisit the finances again. So, I think I'd like to, but it's hard to tell now how it will be.

Melissa

iVillage Member
Registered: 01-06-2004
Sun, 01-09-2005 - 9:06am
I am still home, only because Andrew is being homeschooled now and Dalton is only 1.
I hope to stay home after they are old enough to be in school. Not sure if we will be homeschooling that far along.





Lilypie Baby Birthday

Photobucket - Video and Image Hosting

iVillage Member
Registered: 11-08-2004
Sun, 01-09-2005 - 10:53am
My kids are 4 and 6. They both started school this year (grade 1 and junior kindergarten). This is the first time in 6 years I've had free time to myself every day (my ds goes 1/2 days). At first this was really hard for me and got me thinking about what I want to do when the kids are both in school full time. We live in a new area, don't know many people and to be honest, I didn't know what to do with myself at first. I've always assumed I would stay home, but I felt a little bored and useless. Now I've adjusted and enjoy the time I have to myself, so if I do go back to work it will have to be something very flexible and part time. I still want to be here after school and during the summer, so if that perfect job doesn't come along, I guess I'll be content to stay home too. I guess I'm just glad that I have the option to do either.
Wendy
iVillage Member
Registered: 01-06-2004
Sun, 01-09-2005 - 11:19am
I agree with you all.
If I were to get a job, I would make sure it was after I dropped them off at school and back to pick them up.
I don't want them alone after school.





Lilypie Baby Birthday

Photobucket - Video and Image Hosting

iVillage Member
Registered: 11-17-2003
Sun, 01-09-2005 - 1:44pm

Even though my daughter is 2 3/4 I am planning on staying home and homeschooling her thru all the years of school. God Willing-this is our goal. I love being home and my husband is very supportive of homeschooling. I retired early from Teaching about 6 years ago and do not want to go back to work if I don't have too. Even if I did for some reason I plan on finding something where I can have her with me and she can do her schooling while I work.

Trish :)

iVillage Member
Registered: 08-05-2004
Sun, 01-09-2005 - 3:56pm

I have a 19mth old and 4 1/2 yr old.

iVillage Member
Registered: 04-07-2003
Mon, 01-10-2005 - 2:24pm

Just 2 cents ... ;-)

The advantage to staying home even after they are in school full-time is that you can volunteer in their school/s and other extra curricular activities, thus enriching their lives and their activities with your contribution. Also, volunteering for good "causes" while the kids are in school or even *with* the kids after school sets a very good example of giving generously to others of time, talent as well as "riches."

I think I might struggle with a little guilt being home full-time, but I also think I might fill the time very constructively in maintaining a welcoming home for the family, nuturing positive relationships for myself and the family and doing the above-referenced volunteer work as well as finding a little "me" time. Otoh, I can imagine working at paid employment very part-time, both for the income and the re-involvement in my profession, but I would never do so many hours that I felt like I was beginning to be less dedicated to my kids and husband's well-being.

Essentially, I am not a good multi-tasker and I have found caring for my kids is very consumng and I haven't been able to dedicate time to much else with them most at home--I am looking forward to a little breathing room :-). All this comes with a huge financial sacrifice; I don't know whether it is a wise one, but so far it is the one we are making (no trips to Hawaii for this family (unlike our dual income neighbors).

Meg

iVillage Member
Registered: 05-08-2004
Mon, 01-10-2005 - 3:20pm
I am a homeschooling mom of two boys 7 and 3... We are not sure how long we will home school for, but I know that I would either continue to stay home or get a teaching job that allowed me to drop them off and pick them up from school.

Are you a M.O.M-Mom of Many? Find other M.O.M's

iVillage Member
Registered: 04-08-2003
Mon, 01-10-2005 - 7:11pm

Hi,

I'm new to this board, but this discussion caught my attention right away. My kids will be 2 and 4 in February, but DH and I are already planning for me to be at home for the long haul. Homeschooling is our plan right now, so I was encourage to see how many homeschoolers responded. (It's such an overwhelming undertaking!)

I have so many hobbies that I can't wait to have just a little free time to get involved in a project. I look forward to sharing those hobbies with my children and getting involved in some of their own.

I'm happy to join the group and hope to chat more.

Pages