Making the Decision...

iVillage Member
Registered: 02-16-2007
Making the Decision...
14
Wed, 11-14-2007 - 11:25am
Hi Ladies! I just want to introduce myself quick... My name is Pennie, and I'm currently a working mom of two little girls (ages 4 and 2). I have three jobs (none of which are full time, but juggling all three is VERY hectic). I'm considering dropping them all to become a SAHM, but I have some doubts. Not any regarding how I feel about SAHM, because I think it's a wonderful gift you are able to offer your children, but how to handle it financially, whether or not it's the right choice for me and my family... Do any of you have any tips, advice, warnings about it? Thanks for letting me know!
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iVillage Member
Registered: 04-14-2007
Wed, 11-14-2007 - 12:20pm
It's a good question, but all the answers you'll get here are "You can do it, just give up cable and cell phones," or "Well, I wasn't earning much to begin with so it was easy to do without my income," or "No matter how
iVillage Member
Registered: 08-03-2006
Wed, 11-14-2007 - 2:10pm

"It's a good question, but all the answers you'll get here are "You can do it, just give up cable and cell phones," or "Well, I wasn't earning much to begin with so it was easy to do without my income," or "No matter how


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iVillage Member
Registered: 10-31-2006
Wed, 11-14-2007 - 3:39pm

Hi Pennie!

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iVillage Member
Registered: 10-20-2005
Wed, 11-14-2007 - 5:28pm

I know the best policy is not to engage you but I'm wondering, do you just feel bad that you are not involved in the conversations that happen around here regularly? You have some wonderful thoughts and ideas and we would love to hear more from you if they were not prefaced with such ugliness. As far as I know no one here has done anything particularly awful to make you want to run off our new posters. We all have differing opinions on lots of things and would love to have conversations with you about the things that you seem most vehement about. I know you have been asked to introduce yourself and come around more often, which has been met with different names and background information. If you really have any interest in being a part of our board please do so.

And to the topic at hand, I think we have all done some serious consideration and study as to whether staying at home will work for us. My motivations and decisions may not be enough to make you choose to stay at home but they are exactly what I said, MY motivations and decisions. No one here can tell another person what they should do and what can work for someone else in a similar circumstance but we can offer advice on how we've made it work for us. And if you stick around you'll see that some people here have decided that staying at home no longer works for them and unless I've missed it no one has jumped them and thrown them off the board.

Pennie, don't make this decision lightly. There are days that I wonder how on earth it will work out in the end but somehow for us so far it has.

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iVillage Member
Registered: 02-16-2007
Wed, 11-14-2007 - 6:12pm
Thank you for the advice! These are all things that my fiance and I discuss on a regular basis. I'm not planning on jumping into this without actively weighing the pros and cons of such a major decision, especially one that doesn't concern just me. I'll take all of your advice in consideration!
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iVillage Member
Registered: 02-16-2007
Wed, 11-14-2007 - 6:14pm
Thank you! We're by no means rich, but I think that if we're willing to sacrifice in some areas, it could work. I just want my girls to grow up knowing that they were the most important to me, and that I was available to them when they needed it. I'll make sure to let all of you know what my decision is, and how it works out for us!
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iVillage Member
Registered: 02-16-2007
Wed, 11-14-2007 - 6:15pm
I will make sure to let you all know what I decide to do, and I really like your idea of banking all of my checks, while living like I'm SAHM. That makes sense, and it will provide some saved money! I would never have thought of that on my own!
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iVillage Member
Registered: 02-16-2007
Wed, 11-14-2007 - 6:17pm
I'm not going to make this decision lightly. I want to make sure that this is the best choice for all of us. I want to make sure that we can do it financially, that I can do it emotionally (I'm a social person, but I don't think I'm so social that I wouldn't want to stay home), and that I can find playgroups and stuff for the girls to get involved in. Thanks for the support, and I WILL be back to this site!
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iVillage Member
Registered: 10-20-2005
Wed, 11-14-2007 - 6:43pm

Great I'm glad to hear that you'll be back!!! I am a very social person and hence probably talk on here more than I should. lol But I take my kids to storytime, take Paige to a one day a week preschool, volunteer in Taylor's classroom at school, teach a class at my church take the girls to piano lessons and will Craig too as soon as he's old enough as well as all of the normal running around that needs done.

I love being at home with the kids. I will probably not always want to be at home but for now it works for us.

Emotionally some days are really rough. I would love to take my kids to someone else to deal with for a day or two. That's when I know it's time for a mommy break and I let them go to Mimi's overnight!!:):)

Good luck in your decision!!!

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iVillage Member
Registered: 11-10-2007
Thu, 11-15-2007 - 5:19am

I know that I am new here but I don't see much wrong with this post.


I think it is good advice to do the math and look at your husbands


income.

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