For the stay at home moms, will you be returning to the work force?

I plan on going back to work when my child(ren) go to school. I hope then to only work part time and be off when they are home.

Yes!

I want to work part-time while the kids are in school.

I thought I wanted to go back to work but it hasn't worked out that way......I have been home now for nearly 17 years and even if I wanted to get back out there (and to be perfectly honest I don't), I don't have the skills to get a good paying job!

Definitely. I am currently looking for a job.

No. My youngest is 5 years old and we homeschool so by the time she is finished I will be over 50 and hopefully be able to spend lots of time with grandchildren.

My Dh has no interest in me going out to work ........thank goodness!!! :D

I had to this year due to financial constraints. Did I want to? Nope. Did I need to accept a minimum wage job to be able to be here when my kids get home from school? Yep.

I doubt it. My youngest is 2 and when she goes to school I plan to be even more involved in school activities. Now I'm a PTA member , but would like to serve on the board in some capacity. Then there's field trips and fundraisers, parties, the book fair, reading/library volunteers, school assembly's and ceremonies. The list is endless.

Jill

Well, I plan to homeschool so by the time I get all my children grown and out of school, I doubt it. But if my family ever needed me to I absolutely would.

No. I thought I would when I was younger. But the girls needed a different educational environment, so we chose to homeschool. I thought when that was done I would go back to work. But now we're there I have health issues that make going back to work not a very realistic idea.

My compromise is to try and create work I can do and control from home. So that is what I'm currently doing. However, I'm only good for about half the day and I'm beat. So I've been given the go-ahead by dh to just explore my hobbies and decide which way I want to go in the next few years. By then I'll be 50 and it really is a moot point. I'll only work for myself at that age. No pension to speak of before enforced retirement at 65 yo otherwise.

Course, if anything happens to dh, all this could change.

Jean

I don't want to so hopefully I won't need to find a job. I've only been a SAHM for 4 months so far and I love taking care of my family without having to worry about babysitters or my schedule that much.

No I don't plan on it unless i can go back to the preschool. There I only worked 2 mornings a week. I went in after "big" school started and was out before it ended. I just personally think kids still need someone at home even when they get older. JMHO of course.

Not planning to.;)

nope. Did that once already when they were in grade school, then quit again to homeschool.

they are now finished their university degrees and left home, and I'm still here.

Dh and I figured out that the cost of a second car pretty much eats up the take home we'd get from a part time job which is about all I could handle health wise.

It isn't worth it.

I'm enjoying life, so is he, this is less stress living, less hurry hurry, and to be honest, me staying home bought us a higher standard of living overall, more life satisfaction you might say than we could ever afford even if I worked full time or he had another part time job.

Not going to happen.

To us, there is nothing to compare with the peaceful happy routine of our lives. No paid vacation to an island paradise once a year could add up enough rest and joy to equal the gentle easy symphony of our life as it is now.

Canadian gardener, you said it so very well. I love being at home and our lives are very unrushed and quite stress free.

I have set up our home with a very simplistic and tranquil setting. Life is calm, food is good, the home is peaceful.

Even though I have one university degree and close to a masters in marketing, I have no intention of going back to work outside the home.

I love when ds & I pick up dd at school. We can walk slowly home, talking about her day and then go to a park or the store or hang outside and play or watch a show on tv together. Supper is already cooking, the house is ready for the evening. And I know that dh secretly loves that I chose to stay home.

This is what works for me and my family.

Oh the dilemma! There's a job right now in my "field." I have 9 years experience and I think I can get this job fairly easily. What to do, what to do! I guess the fact that I haven't applied for it yet should tell me something.

The plan is for me to go back to work. I have been thinking about going to school in the mean time to get into the healthcare sector before the time comes for me go back to work.

This is my work. I feel alot like candian gardener. I love creating a peaceful haven for my family. And I know that even though my dh wants me to work eventually(sometime after our youngest turns 10), he would not be happy. He likes me being here.

I have the freedom to do things for my family that I wouldn't have if I was at a job. I will never work nights or weekends because it is too important for me to be available for my kids and dh.

We don't vacation and that's fine with me(except for my dh's hunting and fishing trips). I know that someday we will have the extra money but right now it's about taking care of the important things.

I would like to go to school while my kid(s) are still young and then once they go off to kinder I want to finish school or start working.

I just can't imagine sitting at home till my kid is 18 that is like 13years(from kinder) lol . I would go nuts

I homeschool and work a part-time job. If I had any choice at all, I would be home full-time. I have to work evenings, and my family only gets to eat dinner together two nights a week. We only have one car also.

If I did not work, we would not eat. Period. DH works two jobs and attends college full-time.

Originally posted by mom2knk
I thought I wanted to go back to work but it hasn't worked out that way......I have been home now for nearly 17 years and even if I wanted to get back out there (and to be perfectly honest I don't), I don't have the skills to get a good paying job!

Same here...been SAHM & wife for at least 15 yrs (worked very little outside the home.)
I want to be here for my family as long as possible & if I were to have to work, it would be a very low paying job b/c of the lack of skills.
I love the job of being a SAHM! :)

I haven't decided. DH is a real estate agent. I have my license as well but the demands of the job require being able to meet clients without much notice. My boys are 6 & 3 so that is pretty much impossible. I tried working 3 days a week last summer as DH's assistant but he really needs someone full time and I'm not willing to go full time. So I'm back at home and really enjoy it. I'm not sure if I'll try to work again when my youngest is in school all day or not. I mentioned going back to school to get my master's degree and DH seemed upset that I would consider anything besides doing real estate with him. Sometimes I can see myself with an incredible career. Other times I think about having both kids in school and having the entire day all to myself. Sounds like heaven. I do like being home and think it is important. I also think I will have plenty of time after they are raised to go back to school or do real estate or whatever. So, I don't know yet.

Probably not.

If I ever do work again it wont be because of the money it will be to get me out of the house and a break from the kids so it wont be a very demanding job. I havent worked in almost 10years and I dont plan on working any time soon

Probably not. DH likes me home & I *love* being home. I actually quit my job in October when Ashleigh was in second grade. Kennedy is the first to not have to go to daycare during the first years.

Like others have said, I like how much more peaceful it is this way.

My cousin and I are currently starting a business, so that we don't have to go back to work full time and we can work around our children's schedules. We start this spring.

Dh and I have decided that we want someone to be home when the kids get home...no matter what age they are! So I will either work part time outside of the home, or work from home.

I am seriously considering doing medical transcription. I have had several friends who have done it or are currently doing it. I have worked from home in the past and have the discipline to work from home. My daughter will be starting Kindergarten in the fall, so I probably won't start the training untiil she is in 1st grade (full day)...so that's 2 years away.

I always thought that I would go back into the work force after my kids left for school, but when I actually started staying home, I changed my mind. In fact, I even chose a career path and major that would allow me flexibility in work schedules, but I know I won't go back.

My mother went back to work when I was 11, and there were alot of things that I didn't get to learn about housekeeping and sewing, etc, that I could have and should have learned. And when she got home she was too tired to teach them. And she always worked just while we were in school, but still, there was a marked difference between her working and not working. We noticed a change in her and how she wanted to spend her time. She was definately more stressed and less happy, less willing to help us with things. But she did love her job and she has a good job that makes a lot of money. She just couldn't do all of things that she'd done before, like volunteer.

My MIL has always stayed home, and it made a powerful impact on her four sons. They all have an incredible amount of respect for women in the home and a strong sense of who they are. All of their wives stay home. My FIL came from a broken home, and I honestly think that having her at home to make their house a home has really made him into the man he is today. He could have been an abuser like his father, but he is so loving and respectful of my MIL and the work she's done in their home. After watching my husband's family, I've come to embrace the stay at home life. I have so much respect for them and the family they've raised that I want to make sure my kids turn out like theirs.

The other day, I had some friends over for playgroup, and several of the mothers were talking about picking up part-time jobs to help ends meet. I felt a little bad about my lack of monetary contribution to the household so I mentioned this to my husband and he said "NO! Having you at home is the only thing that keeps me sane!!"

I think that there are so many things that need to be done in this world that cannot be done by working people---volunteer work, PTA stuff, taking meals to new moms,and having snacks ready when your kids come home from school. I know you can do things when you're working, but I just think that that's what staying home is all about. Sort of like, I don't know, like what canadian gardner said, keeping a slower pace of life.

That's my two dollars worth about staying at home. :D Sorry it's a little long, but as you can see, it's something I feel pretty strongly about.

after all my kids (and niece) are in all day school, i look forward to going back to work. i won't be neended as much during the day as i am needed now.....but i look forward to getting out in the workforce:D

I currently work part time, but dont think i will be able to work after the baby is born due to no one being able to watch the babies. (right now my MIL watches them 2 days a week and my hubby is home the other day)
I am also going to school 3/4 of the time for a degree in business management. my DH and I are plannign our own business in the future and the skills i am learning (bookkeeping, etc) are going to be so useful
I love being home with our kids and cant really imagine taking them to daycare or something everyday

No I do not. My health is one reason, but the main reason is I feel that this is the job I should be doing because I feel better doing it and it directly benefits my husband and children. Maybe not is material things but in a sense of security knowing that I am available for them whenever they might need me.

I want to be a SAHM but my fiancee wants me to work part-time. My mom thinks I should work full-time! I don't care what she thinks but I have to listen to Peter since he is the one directly affected not to mention that we are a team! So, I guess I will try to find something I can do part time but I REFUSE to work evenings or weekends!

I'm starting back to work on April 3rd. Wesley will be 6 weeks old. But he's not going to daycare, I found a stay-at-home mom who is going to take care of him during the day and he'll only be there from 8-445/5.

I'm to much of a people person to be a stay at home mom. I love my son and everything, but I crave human interaction.

After 8 years of being a SAHM, I just got a VERY part time job at a gym here. I am working in the childcare there & I get to take my 3 year old daughter with me while my son is in school. Plus, I get a free gym membership :)

I am NOT making much at all though & it is only going to be "fun" money (I'll bring home MAYBE $200/mo working 10 hours a week). I am mostly using this as experience since I have nothing to put on my resume at all in the future when I do go look for another job.

My youngest is 3 1/2 so my plan is to work in the cafeteria in the school when he starts school hopefully there will be a opening then

I'm planning on going back part-time to my previous job when my DD who is now 3 is in either kindergarten or 1st grade. Daddy will take the kids to school and I'll head straight to work and leave in time to pick them up. I'm assuming the only way I'll get a part-time job is for someone who knows my work to hire me. Which means my old job or someone with whom I've worked in the past who have moved on to other companies.

The trick is what to do about school vacations and summer.

One mother I talked to about that I told her that her first $20,000 gross would go to childcare. $4000 for full-time kindergarten (yes this is public school - half day kindergarten is free). Plus afterschool care for 2 kids. Then "camp" for two kids for 10 weeks. Plus you have to count the taxes taken out of your pay.

And when I think of going back to work, I also think of paying for the kid's college. When I think that public college will cost about $100,000 per kid and private school about $400,000 per kid and we have two kids ...

I have been a stay at home mom for most of my adult life. I do have an education and have worked outside the home. I am now a stay at home grandma. My youngest child is a junior in high school. My grandson starts all day kindergarten in the fall. My husband works second shift and is much happier if I am at home. He likes things to work on his schedule so I doubt I will ever go back to work unless I need to.

pepper1 - That is what I do. I work in the school cafeteria part-time. It works out nicely. I start at 10 or 10:30 depending on the day and get out at 1:30 or 2:00. It works out really well for us. I drop my son off at school for 8:50 then I have an hour or so to myself and then off to work. I am home at least an hour before I have to pick him up. The nice thing is that I am off with him for all school holidays, snow days and the summer!