What is your ideal combination of work/home? - Page 2

[SilverFish]

i'm in the stage of figuring this out. just had an interview yesterday, actually. preferably, i'd like to WOH part time. i don't like having a super packed week... i get burned out very quickly, and i don't want to feel like i'm missing out on my kid's life. i realize i'll probably have to accept full-time work for now though, just to meet our short-term financial goals. once i have more than one child though, the idea of a full-time out of home job appeals even less. but hopefully by that time, i'll have gotten the necessary contacts and experience to get a schedule more fitting to our lifestyle.

[madskye]

I work from home, 30 hours per week. It's pretty great.  It's close to full time, so I really work and feel a part of something else.  But, having that extra ten hours means I can take DD to ballet and be available after school for the most part.  She's five now.  I was actually telling someone the other day that I feel pretty balanced.

[phathui5]

Here's my dream/ideal work schedule:

- teach a childbirth class once a week

- spend 4-5 hours a week on midwifery studies

- have one half day a week for prenatals with doula clients

- attend 3-4 births a month

- do 3-4 postpartums a month with aforementioned birth clients

This would magically work around homeschooling my four children.

[waiting2bemommy]

I really enjoy staying at home and I would prefer to be home with my kid full time until a year and some months old. That as never happened, but that's my ideal. Beyond that time, my ideal schedule would be to work 4-5 mornings a week teaching preschool.

I have visions of starting my own business in the future, and it would be a nonprofit which would require me to be really involved, but it would be an endeavor that would allow me to bring my kids with me, bring my work home, and just generally be flexible with how I spent my time. So in that situation I would be ok with working more hours.

[NannyMcPhee]

Work part-time when babe is under 1, then full time work outside the home.

[XanaduMama]

I voted "WOH fulltime," BUT with this caveat: that my hours etc be flexible. I'm really lucky in that I have an incredibly demanding, challenging and stimulating/rewarding job...but am not tied to a desk 8-5. So it looks like part-time, I suppose, in that I'm not in my office all day long, but then I make up for it at nights, weekends, etc. Personally I'd go crazy if I was a fulltime SAHM...I've done it the past few summers and we were all ready for the loony bin by the end.

[meemee]

Originally Posted by velochic 

I pretty much have my ideal situation.  I had my career and was successful for 13 years, got married late and had a baby in my 30's.  I quit my job and stayed home with her until she went to school.  I now work very part-time.  15 hours/week and it's not what I used to do (computer programmer/analyst) but rather fulfilling (writing-oriented) and very flexible.  We don't need the money so I have no pressure to keep the job.  That makes it a very pleasurable job in and of itself.

So my ideal combination was/is to SAH until the child (we have an only by choice) goes to school and then to have a part-time enough of a job to keep it from interfering with home life after that.  I'm very committed to keeping a tidy home and cooking everything from scratch, and those things take time at home.  Me staying home as much as I do keeps us all sane.  (Oh, and my mother lives with us, so I have some elder care responsibilities, too.)

aaaaaah mama. i am soooo happy to hear you are leading my ideal life. if i could have a choice that is what i would choose too.

i am a student. i am also lucky that i coparent. so i dont have dd 2 days a week. i pack all my activities in those 2 days and after i pick her up from school its our time. 

i would never, never, never be a SAHM. the whole point of working out of home was for adult company - not really for work. plus i like to keep my home and work separate. i tried SAHM and i failed miserably. dd was right there and i wasnt with her.