My mind is going in a million directions with this. I can't wrap my brain around the insanity of wages. We are fortunate enough that my husband has a great career and we can afford for me to stay home. That being said, we have looked over our long term budget and to accomplish a few of our goals it would be very advantageous for me to go back to work and add $20-$30k to our income. In my head I was thinking that maybe I could find something part time. Holy moly, the math there is nuts. To work 20 hours a week and make $20k I'd need to be making about $20/hour after taxes and childcare!!! I realize this is basic arithmetic but it's killing me. What on Earth can one do that's not career track driven that would allow that type of income? I was a teacher and nanny before having my own children and neither is a great option right now. It's certainly a wake-up call about my own privileged existence.

I want to go back to work in some capacity but I really want something flexible and that actually makes financial sense. We have zero help available for childcare and until 18 months daycare is extremely expensive and hard to find (I'm due this summer so I was looking at going back after the new year.) So after paying for a nanny at $10 an hour (which would obviously need to cover my commute time too) and then taxes I probably need to be making $20 an hour to basically not be paying to work. Ugh.