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I don't have kids yet, so my experience can't totally be compared.

but we live about 25 miles from the city (an hour commute). DH and I both work in the city.

I was able to work with my bosses to flex my schedule a bit, and by coming in later I can use HOV lanes when they open up and generally, there's less traffic (so it's about 40 minutes instead of an hour)

I'm not really sure what will happen once we have kids though, unless DH finds a new job. He works odd hours so we're rarely home at the same time on week nights.

I live there because when I bought my house (before I got married), I wanted enough room to grow. I could afford a house there for the price of a studio condo in the city. So I went into it knowing that my commute would be part of the "investment"

I don't have children yet, but I commute close to an hour each way daily. Honestly, it doesn't bother me that much. In the morning it doesn't bother me at all. Much like @Mamaof2, I drink my coffee and either listen to music, books on my iPod, or pod casts (right now I love listening to "Serial") and look forward to that each day.

We made the decision that we wanted to live in a town that was further away from where we both worked. I grew up in the town we are in now, my parents are still there, we loved the house, great school district, etc. I think because we love where we live so much, it makes the commute easier to reason with.

i haven't dealt with it as a parent, but i've had a long commute to every job i've ever had. lots of audio books and catching up with friends/family on the phone while driving!

Hey, we could definitely speak more offline if you want to share email addresses since I have experience with this and the city where we both work. I live outside the city and during off peak times and when I don't have to do daycare drop-off, I have a 45 minute commute to work. With rush hour and daycare drop-off, this is my schedule.
4:30 am - Wake up, shower, nurse baby, finalize prep to leave (I need to get up earlier &/or shorten the time it takes us to get out the door.)
6:30 am - leave home
7:15 am - arrive at daycare, do drop-off
7:45-8:00 am - arrive at work downtown depending on current traffic/construction hell
5:00 pm - leave work
5:35 pm - arrive at daycare for pick-up (occassionally cut it close to 6:00 with traffic/construction hell)
6:15 -6:30 pm or sometimes later - arrive home

I love where we live! We have a big house and nearly 10 acres of land. But I am not going to lie, I didn't mind the commute pre-baby but now, there just aren't enough hours in the day to drive that far. We won't move for severeal reasons. But in a few years once LO wants to be in activites, etc. I may have to look for a job (with much less pay) closer to our house.

One downside for us is that we don't have family in the town where we live. DH's family is close but they aren't likely to help us. My family is 1.5 hours away and are more likely to drive and help when LO is sick, etc. So if you have family in the town where you would live that is a bonus.

Also, there is not a good daycare close to our house. With my work hours (used to work 8a-6p), I had to bring him to daycare closer to work or I would never make pick-up time. So something to consider is if you have help with drop-off/pick-up or can you make it back home by the time daycare closes. Good luck!

Ugh, I'm about to deal with this! We just moved to the burbs' of a new city and the only job I could find is in the actual city, about 30 minutes by train (45-1 hour total). I was trying so hard to get a job in the burbs but no luck. Very grateful to have a job though, don't get me wrong. Anyway I am really hoping my new boss is flexible about me working from home and having a staggered schedule/leaving early as needed. If he isn't then I will have to quit. DH and I both have demanding jobs so if I can't help out in emergencies, w hich there will definitely be, then something will have to give.

I have a very short commute but I love listening to tons of free podcasts like Freakonomics.

We drive in together. Our usual schedule if we're not late is:

Leave house 6:45am
daycare dropoff 7 am
Arrive at work 7:45am, drop husband off at train (he takes the subway 4 stops further into the city)
park and arrive at my desk at 8am

We were both able to shift our hours to 8-4 which helps us avoid the worst traffic and get home in time for dinner.

I made calls and listened to the radio occasionally but I am a big fan of silence in the car when I'm driving alone.

@avivoca: So your LO would be in daycare in the city where you live, and you would be commuting without her?

Commuting solo for an hour isn't so bad--I did it last year after my mat leave (my commute is 50 minutes, but can be longer than an hour if traffic is bad).

But this year, I commute WITH LO and it's kind of a nightmare. I do it because daycares are cheaper near where I work (Like, $800/month cheaper) but it's been really tough and I wouldn't recommend it for anyone that doesn't have a really good reason for doing it. Plus, since I do drop off and pick up, that adds another 10 minutes each way.

The one drawback to having your LO an hour away is that if she's sick, it takes you an hour to get to her. To me personally, that's preferable to picking your LO up sick and driving with a sick baby alone for an hour (been there, done that, it's awful). Would your husband pick her up when she's sick?

The only other major drawback is the time it adds to your day. I would have a very manageable work day if I weren't in the car 2 hours a day.

@avivoca: the 8-4 schedule has been wonderful for us!

@avivoca: yeah, if you have them then it should be fine!

I was able to flex my schedule to work two ten hour days so I leave my house at 6:15 and get home around 6-6:15pm. I work 7-5pm and the commute is 15 miles but takes at least an hour. We have a nanny because I wasn't able to find alternative childcare where I could drop DS off that early and I really only wanted to work two days/week.

I would give my left arm for teleportation to be a real thing..... my commute with daycare drops is over an hour each way