give up job to stay at home?
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give up job to stay at home?
| Sat, 08-04-2007 - 11:04pm |
Hi all,
I'm new here and have been working with 2 young kids (9months and 2.5 yrs old). I have been thinking about being a stay at home mom, but have been working up the corporate ladder at the same time. Is it crazy of me to give up a 6 figure salary and live paycheck to paycheck off my husband's salary to stay home until the kids are a bit older? I'm struggling with this.
I'm new here and have been working with 2 young kids (9months and 2.5 yrs old). I have been thinking about being a stay at home mom, but have been working up the corporate ladder at the same time. Is it crazy of me to give up a 6 figure salary and live paycheck to paycheck off my husband's salary to stay home until the kids are a bit older? I'm struggling with this.

Welcome to the board. I am Ana, SAHM to Bella. Prior to staying home I was a high school teacher.
You are asking a question, that truthfully only you can really answer. Some of us always knew we would stay home, others (myself included) decided when we were presented with the possibility.
I can only speak for myself, but it was a very difficult (yet amazingly simple) decision to make. A lot of things went into the decision, the fact that I don't remember my mom being around a lot, watching my sister when her daughter started calling the babysitter gramma but not referring to my sister as anything. And then finally when I learned my daughter would need some extra attention due to a very minor birth defect.
So, I guess what I am saying to you, is look at your life and make the decision. I am a firm believer (unlike some other moms) that SAHMhood is not for everyone. It really isn't. It is a decision that we all have to make based on what WE need in our lives.
Deciding whether or not to stay home depends on a lot of different factors and is different for every mom. For me it was an easy decision. I was not making a huge income and we could live off of my husband's income. After I paid daycare I would have brought home a few hundred dollars which would, in turn, be gas money, lunch money and clothes money for my work. I would be working long hours for practically no money in the end and it wasn't worth it to me to miss out on my kids for a few hundred dollars.
Staying home has it's benefits and it's hardships. I love being with my kids. I love playing with them, taking them to the park, seeing all of their achievements. My son who is almost two is really starting to talk and communicate and that is so much fun. My daughter just passed three months and is starting to roll over, laugh, and communicate in her own way. I definitely think that being a stay-at-home mom is right for me. Of course, with being a SAHM I am the primary one responsible for taking care of the home, cooking, cleaning, child-rearing, paying bills, and tending to just about everything. I don't get days off, I don't get breaks. I feel like I am constantly "on the clock" so to speak. But it's worth it, in my opinion, for what I get back.
I know that we do have to make sacrifices to stay at home. We don't have the luxury of going out and spending money whenever we want. We eat at home almost 100% of the time. I don't get to go out and buy new clothes when I want to, usually things like that are saved for bonus checks or tax return season when we have that extra money available. And it can get stressful when money gets tight, especially since I start thinking that maybe things wouldn't be tight if I were working. But I believe that being at home with my kids is the best thing for them and for our family. And I believe the sacrifices we make are worth it.
Okay, I've rambled on long enough. Take care!
Tarra
Tarra
mommy to
Noah (10/13/05)
and
I have a BA & an MBA & was in the workforce 12 years before my daughter was born.