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Wanted to be one and we could make it work.

Wanted to be one so we made choices like not buying a house in the city and living off of half of our income to make sure it was workable

Several years back we realized when we were ready to start a family and have one or two kids we would be paying a crazy amount of taxes and just be breaking even with me working. So when we bought our house 3 years ago I left my full time corprate job, and made my 5 year photography hobby into my full time job. We are expecting our first child next week (!!!) and I will be working about 20% of what I did last year (so pretty much back to hobby hours....10-15 hours a week June-Oct, 5ish hours a week the rest of the year). In 2016 I may be done with work completely. M loves his job & company, and right now this looks like it will be our situation for the long term as long as everyone is happy with it.

I've always hated the 40 hour work week (or in teaching 50-60+ week) so I knew I needed more flexibility. I really loved my job and wanted to do both, so I work part time around my husband's schedule. I prefer having both worlds available to me even though it can be very stressful and busy- like this morning I'm working on several projects from home with the boys needing entertainment.

Plus daycare costs just didn't make sense and would eat up everything I brought home working normally. Fortunately my work and my husband's work both have the hours available to let us do this. On top of it all, the days at home make my husband appreciate that it isn't all just sitting on the couch eating bon bons all day

For me, it's a combination of 1, 2 and 4, though I voted 1 because that is probably the main driving factor. A relocation and workplace restructure also factored into the decision, as did financial factors (the cost of daycare in our area and also tax implications). But mostly, DH and I have always envisioned myself being a SAHM and the other two factors just made it easier to make that decision.

We moved somewhere I couldn't work locally so I WAH until LO1 was born and in a very very part time position since then. Then we moved to an area where the cost of child care is insane. We are looking at another move coming up and will reevaluate depending on where we land. I have really grown to love SAH though so we shall see.

We couldn't find the amount of childcare that we needed in a reasonable proximity to our places of employment.

I have always wanted to be a SAHP and I do a bit of both. Iam a teacher and I work Thurs/Fri's in the same class and I am home with DS the rest of the week.

My Mom works part time so she has DS on the days I work which means we aren't spending money on childcare. Obviously we would be in a better position financially if I worked full time but it works for us at the moment.

Once we are done having children and the last one is at school full time that is it I will be back to full time work so im really cherishing these days I have now with DS.

We planned for it and saved for several years to make it happen.

I voted other. My job's pay and benefits weren't great and I knew that it wasn't what I want to do long-term, I needed to go back to school for that. So DH and I decided it made the most sense for me to be a SAHM while I finish my degree. So I guess I'm not completely a SAHM since they go to daycare twice a week while I attend classes. It does make things tight financially, but in the long run it will be well worth it.

@lemondrop: I didn't realize you did all that from jome!!

@lemondrop: good gracious, lady. Good thing E has the cat's water bowl to entertain him today Also, hang in there today!!

@LovelyPlum: thanks!

E's forcing me to take a break by napping on me right now. We're actually about to go get lunch and have a playground run once he wakes up. I owe them a fun zoo day on Thurs once I finish the worst of my week. The stuff with my dad and dog had really thrown me off. Good thing both are on the mend!

Well I did not want to work but was going to anyway and probably ask to go part time. When it came time to return we found out LO was not gaining well and he refused the bottle when I was at work. He was already off the charts and could not afford to lose any weight so after a few days we decided I would SAH. My boss convinced me to just take extended leave and then I was laid off just before I planned to return. And then I found out I was pregnant again. So, we adjusted and luckily DH got a big raise and promotion so we can manage for now.

I've always wanted to be a SAHM and DH felt the same. Short of being destitute, we would have done just about anything to make it happen; our feelings about having a parent home with our babies during their early years were that strong. Fortunately, we're in a position where it has worked out for us.

Other. My DH and I weren't 100% comfortable with someone else watching our LO, be it daycare or a nanny, although we looked into both. Then LO had undiagnosed food allergies that made for a stressful, horrible, and sad several months before she was finally correctly diagnosed and given the right treatment. That was sort of the thing that pushed us over the edge of really not wanting someone else to care for her. During those first 6 months before the diagnosis DH asked if I was okay staying home with her. I discussed with my boss and she was so understanding she worked things out for me to WAH part-time while caring for LO full time. Now that LO2 is here I'm a full time SAHM and not working, at least for now. DH works long hours with almost no flexibility and this isn't a financial burden since we budget strictly and he makes enough for us to be comfortable without my paycheck. I do plan on returning to the workforce and my career eventually, although I may continue with the part time WAH for a little while before going back to WOH full time. We'll see how things play out. I'm enjoying being a SAHM for sure!

I've always wanted to be one, and thankfully we can more than afford it. DH paid more in taxes last year than I've ever made in a year, so my working is pretty much a joke in terms of impact on our finances. I've never had a job I really loved, whereas I do truly love being a housewife and volunteering at the library, and DH likes not having to do any housework after a long day/week at work, so it just makes sense.

I had no intention of SAH. I was a lawyer and lost my job completely unexpectedly at 40+5 (and it didn't even put me into labor! You'd think the shock would've haha). I planned to look for work during my planned maternity leave but LO was a very challenging newborn and we then had a series of issues related to her (refusing to) eat so it seemed to us that daycare would be a disaster and I put off seriously looking for anything. Now that she is 9mo I have been seriously looking for about two months but I just haven't found anything yet.

Honestly I do wish that I could stay at home longer. I am enjoying it way more than I had anticipated I would and I don't miss working at all. I feel like this is way easier and more fun than being a working mom will be. But the truth is that we didn't plan for this so we can't make it work long term without some very drastic changes. We bought a house, bought cars, have student loans... all on the premise of being a two income family. Short of selling our home and seriously downsizing and maybe downsizing our cars I don't think it would be responsible of me to stay home indefinitely. And really even then it would be rough. Our student loan payments are about the same as our current mortgage and there is really nothing to be done about them now. Except use them to get a job.

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I always wanted to SAH and homeschool, so I'm happy my husband is on board with the sacrifices we are make to accommodate that.