SAHM & Dad's To Kids In School? - Page 2

[Mummoth]

My youngest is starting grade 1, and no way am I going back to work! I'm looking forward to finding the bottom of the laundry pile more often and volunteering at the school. I'll have time to go to the gym! I will be watching a few kids before and after school (their moms work for the school board, so everyone gets summers off!) but those few hours a week are enough for me!

[Munchkinmaker]

I have 4 boys, my oldest is 10 & my youngest is going into JK (full days every day) this fall. I've been doing this SAHM thing non stop for 10 years and I'm sooo ready for a break. I'm looking forward to doing things alone, like the bank, groceries, shopping trips, yard work, house work, gym, cooking and ohhhhhhh Christmas shopping. No more trying to hide gifts under coats making myself look like a shop lifter LOL!.

My last leaves the house for school at 8:45 and the first arrives home at 3:15. That leaves me 6 hours. It sounds like a lot but I could kill 2-3 of those doing housework/yard work every day. I also want to get back to the gym every day. I've neglected the gym for the last couple years and it shows . Once I go to the gym and run errands, that leaves me enough time to shower, prep supper, after school snacks and start on lunches for the next day. I'm looking forward to the new routine

[MariaMadly]

Hoo-boy, umm, DS1 is out of the house and I'm still a SAHM! Now a lot of mothering him is along the lines of scratch-baking for care packages, things like that. Oh, and reading and learning some academic links he sends me because "we talked about this in Philosophy today, it was so cool!" He's three time zones behind us, so sometimes he calls to chat in the middle of the night by mistake!

DS2 is senior in h.s. He's about to hit the ground with college applications and school visits, so I'll be balancing support activities (mostly feeding him; my boys can *eat*) with honoring his boundaries, and staying within them while acting as a sounding board. The only time he wants to talk extensively is between midnight and 2AM weeknights. I'm so grateful he does that I stay up with him!

I work out weekdays, combine school runs with errands for us and for / with my mother. Our dog is a real family creature, so she and I ramble daily and hang out together. Weekends DH and I date (like, we go grocery shopping) and do things around the house . . . we're in the middle of a major book purge. I do some volunteer work, serve on a municipal committee, and am on my fifteenth year helping out the PTA. If the kids' colleges have bake sales, I've got it covered . . .

[dbsam]

Originally Posted by philomom

Why did we do this?

- no fights about sick days and who stays home with sick child

- no expensive summer care for 12 weeks of summer

- no worries about who will drive to field trips, doctor's visits or anything... its all me

_ no fighting over errands and losing your whole weekend to grocery shopping and errands. I take care of that stuff. My hubby returns each day from work to eat, relax and play with kids. Evenings are so peaceful and weekends can be so relaxed.

- yes, I volunteer at school, in our community and get hearth and home clean, stoked with great home-cooked meals

Works for us.

philomom...your reality is my plan.

My children started full-time school (first grade) last week. At first I felt like I 'should' go back to work but I didn't want to. Plus I've been a SAHM for almost seven years....I'm not sure I could get a job right now. I have plenty I'd like to do around the house and for the family. This week my children have been sick and home from school - something we would not have been able to handle well if I worked. I cannot find someone to watch my children for a few hours and cannot imagine finding someone to watch them for the entire week. My job involved a long commute, long days and much stress. One day I might go back to school for another degree in a new field - hopefully to work close to home with a flexible schedule or I might just consider myself ‘retired’. (Many of my friends who were SAHM’s are going back to work now that their children are in college. I didn’t have my children until age 40 so waiting until they are in college to go back to work doesn’t sound like a good plan for me.)

[dahlialia]

I have been soul searching so much about this myself.

It is my hope to do this when DD2 starts school (she is only just 1 so we have a few years yet )

I have frequent migraines, polycystic ovaries with a lot of pain, severe PMS, etc. So when I work, those are a big stress for us all. Plus the school day only affords 6 hours, and it's hard to only work 6 hours. It is important to DH and I that one of us be there after school.

Financially, we are lucky that I could choose to not work. I could fill that 6 hours pretty easily, between sick time (mine or the kids'), housework, errands, appointments, cooking & baking (we all appreciate home-cooked meals), time in the studio (I dabble in textile arts), etc. Leaving weekends and evenings free for us to enjoy.

Interestingly, I do far better with the house when it is all my responsibility. When DH and I were sharing tasks more, it was so easy to think "hmmm, why should I do X now, when DH is just sitting on the couch?!?!". But when the choice is between ME doing it now and ME doing it later, I just do it

We are also extremely lucky in that I would have the opportunity to work very part time if I chose. DH and I have a business together, and when I just had DD1 I worked part time, then full time when she started school, until DD2 came along. Ultimately I think I would work some hours per week, to have the mental challenge and to stay current with the technologies. But I honestly think our lives would be best overall if DH focused on work and I focused on everything else.