Hellobee Boards

I made the decision to stay at home while on maternity leave because we didn't have any reasonable child care options (by reasonable I mean less than 40 minutes driving in the direction opposite of our employment). I returned to work just after my son turned two.

Part of why I wanted to return to work was because I was in a strange environment with no support. I was alone a lot and for someone that was used to being around people 24/7, it was a shock and I didn't always handle it well. So, if it were to happen again, we're now in a different area and that wouldn't be an issue. Not sure if that is helpful or not.

If you have the chance, I say take it. You don't know how it is going to be until you try it!

I decided to play it by ear when I was pregnant, expecting that I would not want to go back to work, and so I expected to be a SAHM and I am! The hardest thing for me at first was letting go of the feeling that I am spending "my husband's money" and getting used to the idea that my work is never done but that is okay! With working outside the home there are usually tangible tasks and goals so you can easily feel like you did something that day but at home I just see all the things that need to be done around the house and some clingy teething days I don't get much done other than taking care of my daughter! And that's okay I love being a sahm, it's my dream job lol. I am doing some work part-time from home to bring in a little $ and to have a little project for me and a housewife friend of mine and if it takes off I can see this being my job after my daughter is in school (if I don't homeschool). Right now I have no desire to go back to working outside the home.

If staying home parttime were an option I would totally choose it, however that being said I"m currently WOHM & we've discussed me SAH but I honestly scared that it wouldn't be for me. I like having interaction frequently so I think that partime would be a perfect medium for me. I could still get my interaction but spend more time with LO. My job doesn't allow it at this time though.

I really like reading everybody's feedback because I've been thinking about staying at home after bub is born. We really want to have a second straight away, and my job is not one that you could do easily part time - it would just be twice as stressful!

I think my husband is also happy about that. All of his friends and colleagues' wives stay at home so it seems normal to him. Plus currently we share household duties, but I can see that he would prefer coming home and having time to relax rather than having to juggle groceries, cooking dinner, dog walking, cleaning, laundry etc. And we don't even have children yet! I think we would both be happier if I could spend my time running the house and he could spend his time making the money. But at the same time it obviously makes me nervous because we would all be relying on his income alone. It's a little bit scary.