Feel like can't work, or stay home.

amother

Tue, Nov 07 2006, 9:10 am

I have 3 children, ages 8,5, and 3. I have been working in the same job for the past 10 years, with the past 3 years being part-time. My current dilemma is that I have been told that I need to return to work full-time (I was given 2 months notice). My problem is that I find working full-time to be difficult, the part that bothers me the most is not being home when my kids come home from school. I do pride myself on being a supermom and things got done when I worked full-time, but I feel that I am missing out by coming home at 5pm or 6pm after the kids are home from school. Full time work for me would mean being out of the house for 10 hours per day. In the winter it gets even later because I would need to make up Friday time. That being said, I am scared to leave my job and stay home. I have been agonizing over this dilemma ever since my boss told me that she needs me back full time. I think I can be labeled as a workaholic that is terrified at the thought of staying home. At this point, since all of my kids are in school, I feel like I will have too much idle time when I could have been working cuz kids are not even home during all of those hours. I like my job and get a lot of satisfaction from working and doing a job well. In my field of work it is very difficult to find a part-time job, so that is not really an option. In terms of $, we should be able to get by, but it would mean that we would have to budget and money would be tight (it would be difficult to know for sure). Should I stop working so that I can be home when kids get home from school, or should I continue working and send them to a sitter till I can pick them up after work? HELP!!!

JMto2

Tue, Nov 07 2006, 9:35 am

I Just went through the same dillemma and I want to be there for my children when they get home so I am not going to work I was laid off by my current job and I chose not to get another one because any other one would mean not being home for my daughter. I would tell you to try and do something from home maybe so you will not be bored.

Mommamia

Tue, Nov 07 2006, 8:43 pm

id say quit the job for sure- be there for the kids and im sure something else will come up...

you gotta find something that works for you. in the long run I can see you being very sad you werent there for your klids and you dont want ytour kids feeling neglected the whole point of making money is to take care of your family but if you never even see your family.. whats it worth?.... plus u said you could get by..
im sure uyoull find something

good luck

PinkandYellow

Tue, Nov 07 2006, 8:49 pm

how long would they be at the sitter for? an hour or two isn't a big deal and maybe they'll be together for that short time.
I wouldn't sneeze at a womans desire to go out to work. esp if being a homemaker isn't a full time job. consider that being bored at home for part or much of the day will prob not lead to anything good unless you make a really conscious effort to fill your time.

Mommamia

Wed, Nov 08 2006, 12:42 am

an hour or 2 wouldnt be a big deal if they werent after a loong day at school but an hour or two after a long day at school is way too long- a kid needs their parent after school not another babysitter-

and if the mother is working so full time will she then have the energy and patience for her tired, worn out children being that it will be soo late?

tulips

Wed, Nov 08 2006, 12:51 am

Can you meet them halfway, like work 3/4 time? This way you could make it home just in time for the children. And perhaps you could fill in some extra hours on Sunday or Friday. If your kids come home to Mommy all week, but on Friday there's a sitter, maybe that's an idea....this way you could do some hours on Friday. (I do hear that the short Friday's are a problem....)
Personally, I don't want to work full time, neither do I want to be home full time. Hmmm... wish I had some magic solution for you.
Ask yourself, ''What would it take to make this work for me?" And brainstorm. Maybe you can ask your boss the same question, "This is my dilemma, do you have any suggestions to make this work for me and you?"
Best of luck,
Keep us posted,

Marion

Mon, Nov 13 2006, 8:30 am

Another question, that no one has asked: can you AFFORD to stay at home? I can't. I just started back at work, and I have an 11.5 - 12 hour day. I drop my son (8.5 months) at daycare by 7:15 and am home no earlier than 6:30. I found that a 3/4 time or 1/2 time position didn't justify the cost of daycare (because with the commute I'd still be paying for full time daycare), so it had to be full time. I envy you that you have a choice.

saral

Wed, Dec 06 2006, 11:46 pm

I havent posted in ages but this is interesting. I recently left my part time job that I was doing for over a year, (since my baby was 10 months) because I felt that I always needed time off
for this and that and that they put alot of pressure on me to stay later and I already felt guilty enough to be leaving the baby. Now shes i2 and in school longer and Im trying out a home business and also, substituting school to make extra money- I like my flexibility and I could never work full time when my kids are this young. I want to be home when they come home. I also think that you should do what you feel is right for your kids.