HS'ing mamas: do you contribute finanically to the household? - Page 3

[Oh the Irony]

I have a part-time freelance book indexing business and now contribute substantially to our income.

I didn't work for a couple years after my DS was born, then trained to do this and my business has gradually grown. Now I am a bit busier than I would like to be, but it is hard to turn down projects. Thankfully my older son can go to work with his dad and my mom is 2 miles away and loves to keep the baby.

This is my first year homeschooling. I didn't really plan it. We did K last year and it just drove me crazy. So not what I wanted for my child.

I sometimes feel that being a WAHM is becoming really romanticized. I keep trying to articulate what I mean by this and it is not working--if this strikes a chord with anyone please elaborate.

[lilyka]

I am just starting a homeschooling co-op class business which will hopefully make a smallbut signifigant contribution to our budget (It will cover all the girls activities and supplies and all our homeschooling items etc . . . - about $50 a week) and as a nice side bonus it is stuff I wouldn't normally get around to teaching my girls and they are going to have a blast doing this stuff. it is also some of it stuff I wouldn;t be able to afford to do with my girls but since someone else is paying me I can afford for my children to do it too.

[oldcrunchymom]

I'm a single mom and I stay at home with my kids and homeschool them. We live on child support and a very small amount of money from odd jobs, occasional eBay sales, etc. Our income is well below the poverty line but we manage to just scrape by.

To our family, homeschooling is not so much a choice but a necessity for both political and academic reasons. I would not send my kids to school except as a very last resort. Having such a low income can be stressful at times, but not nearly as stressful as life would be if I were compromising my core beliefs and my highly gifted child was thrown into an atmosphere that would most likely destroy him.

In the past, I lived in an affluent area and was married to someone who made $70,000 a year. My life today is far simpler and calmer. Everyone has to do what's right for their family and not what is commonly accepted as "success."

[umbrella]

I have to say, I am actually saving our family so much money by being a sahm now, and by homeschooling.

Up to just last week, I was a full-time student. Because of that, we had all the expenses of a typical two-working-parent family, and still just the one income. We realized we needed two cars. We spend a LOT of money on childcare, and then the Montessori preschool that we used also as a daycare.

We just got rid of the second car this weekend, and no more tuition at preschool. That's a lot of money we'll be able to save now. Not to mention all the little things because I have the time now, including better menu planning, and bargain hunting, etc.

[warriorprincess]

I work PT directing my church nursery. Since I can bring the kids with me child care is not an issue. The money goes to extras like my cel phone and Livvie's ballet classes, but I love the job for itself too.

[urklemama]

I don't see why creating an educational elite is such a bad thing.

I have three extremely privileged children. They're white, they're male, they're non-disabled, they are likely to inherit some property.

So, let's see, I can give them a crappy PS education that will defuse at least part of their privileges by not teaching them to read, I can give them a private school education that will teach them that they deserve what they have and don't need to give back (I'm a private school product myself so I know of what I speak) or I can teach them well at home to have a sense of responsibility to go with their incredible advantages.

Homeschoolers ARE the elite. At least we're an elite who cares and will make things better for everybody.