Would You Work From Home If You Could?

Interesting post! I can’t really help much, as I don’t have children of my own yet. However, I am currently re-thinking careers because our current situation is not flexible enough for us to have a dog – much less a child. Having no idea what my next career move would be, I have been very focused on looking for something that I could do from home – all so that I could stay at home with the kids, yet still have a career and contribute financially. Although your post is not necessarily what I want to hear – it’s good to hear a real-life story and know the cons of this “ideal” situation! Thank you so much

Either way you win. If you’re lucky enough to stay home with a child while they grow up it’s a blessing for both of you. I started working from home when my first daughter was born and I’m still doing it and she’ll be starting her senior year in high school this Fall. I’m not saying it was always easy and I’ve given up a lot of possible income but I would do it all over again. When you’re looking at your child turning 18 you wonder where the time went. Stay home as long as you can.
.-= Jeff´s last blog ..Are Your Kids Failing Their Fitness Tests =-.

Hi Tabitha – tough decisions for sure!

I’m not sure what field you work in, but it may not be impossible to re-enter in a few years, just tough in the sense of having to readjust and catch up on a few areas. I’ve actually had a boss say before he’d love to hire a stay at home mom, because she can juggle many things at once, and has learned to prioritize and be efficient! So that could be a bonus, you never know

Would your work be flexible enough to let you work 2 or three eight hour days? That way you wouldn’t be splitting your attention every single day, which I can see would be draining!

Good luck with your decision, and I hope you get some sleep. Stress is bad enough without sleeping!

I would try to continue working from home. I’m a mother by no means, but there’s something to be said, about keeping something that’s yours – even if its as meaningless as “work” becomes once you have an adorable little one. At the end of the day, its something that you do, that brings you a little side income, and that helps you contribute to the financial well being of your home. And I’ve always found alot of meaning in that.
.-= Carolina Baker´s last blog ..Goodbye =-.

The only things I can really add you have probably already considered, but do you have any friends that you could ‘swap’ care with to eliminate or lower the price of a sitter?

Are your working hours flexible? Could you work during naptimes or piggyback your sitter with naptimes to maybe use her less? Maybe save an hour of work for after your husband is home? Work just a couple longer days that might cost less than several each week?

Cut expenses? Along this line you may want to consider that being home full-time and attending ‘activities’ may add to your expenses dependent upon what activities you want to do.

Good luck in whatever you decide to do! There is no “right” answer across the board… you have to do what you feel is best for you and your family.

If I could work from home I would. I have done it here and there with my current job and love the chance to work from home. However, our policy here is that if you have children and work from home you have to have childcare for them during that time. I could see where many would want to work from home to save on childcare but I also understand it being hard to work from home when something else is grabbing your attention. I would say give the sitter a try for awhile. You might find that while you make less you still get to be apart of work you enjoy. It sounds like you more want to work to keep your adult activity, something that makes you you, and that isn’t about how much money you bring in, so it is ok if it isn’t much.

Good question! Such a hard one to figure out too. I personally would say $119 isn’t worth it. I would think there could be some other creative ways for you to make the money. Could you babysit for another child? Or do the dog walking thing again? Or a part-time job that allows you to work some evenings or weekends when the CPA is home, so you wouldn’t need a babysitter?

I would love the opportunity to be a SAHM, and I think I would take it for $119 per week. But I know I won’t have that opportunity for at least a few more years…drats to being the main source of income (although I’m thankful for a good job too)…But each person is different. Prayers for you as you figure out the answer to this question for your own situation!
.-= Jenny | The Balow Bunch´s last blog ..Summer fun =-.

I bring Bailey to work with me a day a week, it is sooo very hard! She is crawling, wants to be played with, loved on and I can not really do that 24/7 while there. I am fortunate she goes to my Mom’s the other day I work, and I am happy to bring some extra money home but, it is hard. I do not know what I would do in your situation…Is it possible to find a younger teenager in your area that wants some hours (since you are at home if anything happens??) I used to do this, the pay was minimal while in high school but I was happy to have money in high school… It is so very hard to have to raise a child, work and figure all the details out! Good Luck…

Ah, yes. There’s always that “hit” that your career will take. But what about the “hit” that Henry will take? Sure, kids raised in daycare are fine, but kids raised by their parents do better. And I’m sure you didn’t wait so many years to have kids just to let someone else raise him.

Which is not to say that if you choose to continue working, I’m going to be looking down on you or judging you or anything. YOU do what’s best for YOUR family and everyone else be damned. But… at some point, you’ll retire, right? So – your job is not forever. Henry is, and the intangibles that he gets from being raised by you are as well.

As for the money issue, budget your brains out. And besides, it’s not forever. You could always go back to work during school hours when he starts kindergarten. Your career might have taken a hit, but you’re only working part-time right now anyways, so -

Not that I have all the answers (I certainly don’t!) but that’s my humble $0.02.
.-= erin´s last blog ..busy like a bee =-.

What is $119 worth to you, Tab? I think that’s the only question.

Look, you do what is best for your family. It’s a choice that only you and the CPA can make. But at the end of the day, I think you just need to take a deep breath and ask yourself whether or not a few hundred bucks a month are worth the angst. From an outsider’s perspective, you don’t really sound like you think it is. There are plenty of reasons to work for little pay – maybe you like a little time out from baby duty, maybe you enjoy the sense of contribution to both your household and your company, maybe you like interacting with colleagues, etc. Whatever you choose, though, try not to feel guilty about it. Henry will thrive because he is loved, whether you are there every minute or not. And you will thrive because you will have made a thoughtful decision, weighed all the options, and chosen what you felt was best for your family. The only question is whether the money and your reasons for wanting to work are worth the emotional turmoil and the frustration you seem to be experiencing.

I don’t know what’s right for you, but obviously it wasn’t worth it for me.
.-= Sarah @ BecomingSarah.com´s last blog ..My inestimable blessing and bother =-.

This is a complicated situation… It’s so easy to hear about your current situation and think, “Wow, she’s so lucky!”. But the reality is that it’s not at all easy, and it’s definitely not as simple as it sounds.

I think you’re asking all the right questions. To those who ask “What is the $119 worth to you”, however, I might argue that it’s more than just the paycheck that plays into this decision. If you stop working now, it may be harder to find a job that grows and a career that offers a bigger paycheck down the line. That said, maybe that’s not what you’re after. Maybe being at home with Henry is worth any paycheck.

I am planning on going back to work when my little guy is 4 months old, and although he’s not born yet, I am already dreading that day. I won’t be working from home with him there, but I will be spending an arm and a leg on daycare 3 days a week. I think it brings up a lot of the same questions.

It’s a tough spot to be in. I’m confident you’ll work out what’s best for you, but I know how difficult that is!
.-= Kate´s last blog ..She Says… School’s Out For Summer =-.

I’m stuck on something you said:

“What this means is that even though the income is better than nothing, we will still need to dip into our savings every month in order to make ends meet.”

I’m a fretter. I fret. I fret about money, especially. I worry about if all of our bills will be paid on time, how much we’re saving for retirement, how much we’re spending, etc… I fret so much that if I let it, it will cost me my sanity. While I know a lot of people here are saying that $119 per week isn’t a whole lot of money, I can’t get past your comment that you guys are dipping into your savings each month. EEK! Honestly, $119 is SOMETHING! That’s $119 per week less that you’ll have to take out of your savings!

Maybe you have enough in savings to not worry about taking some out each month, I don’t know. For me, however the thought of using our savings monthly would stress me out.

I agree that time with your child is really precious, but maybe there’s a way that you can make it work… and not have to pay the babysitter as much as you have been. For example…. Can you start working at 6AM, before your husband leaves for work, so that you can get at least 1, maybe 2 hours of interrupted hours of work time. That’s an hour or 2 less that you have to pay the sitter that day.

I would think long and hard about quitting altogether, because once you leave, you can’t un-ring that bell.

Just a thought….

I would argue to Kate’s post that the question of what $119 is worth to you still stands. I mentioned before that there are other reasons to work, and those are completely relevant, but the question does still stand. The focus of your post was not on the joys of working, but on the negatives of working, and the main plus you mentioned was money. If the post had been written differently, it’s a different question.

Also, I have to agree with Victoria that the idea of dipping into savings every month absolutely terrifies me. Donald and I live quite frugally. We have an income that is less than half of the average income in our community – and most of our community is retired, so that’s saying something. But we superglue the soles of our shoes back on until we wear through them and we plan our groceries so we never throw out any food (last week, a squash rotted on our counter b/c of the heat and it just about killed us to chuck it), etc. A little creativity (and desperation) (and knowing our options) goes a long way. So to say we live frugally is almost an understatement. It’s not the choice that’s right for everyone, but it’s something that we believe in, so we sacrifice.
.-= Sarah @ BecomingSarah.com´s last blog ..Walking her puppy =-.

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Hope it helps – or at least proves a bit useful.

I worked from home for about 9 months when Jack was 10 months to 19 months. It was awful. Eventually I quit because I knew I wasn’t being the mom I should be. We took a hit financially, but it was so worth it. I no longer felt like I was cheating my son.