Work/life dilemma - what would you do?

daisiegg

zzzLazyDaisy wrote: »

Personally, I wouldn't retrain as a teacher unless it is your dream job. The hours are not as short as school hours and the amount of paperwork (often done at home in your own time) is pretty dire. You have to really love the work if you are going to be a teacher (in my view).

Totally agree with this. I think teaching is something that needs to be a vocation and something you've always wanted to do - rather than something you kind of get into because it's the better option or you think it might be convenient etc. The worst teachers I've known are ones for whom it wasn't the first choice or something they REALLY wanted to do.

As LazyDaisy said you will find the hours longer than you think...I tend to get to school by 7.30am, and work through lunch every lunch. The time I leave after school depends on what is on - if there's a club or a meeting or something it will be after 5 but if there isn't I can get away by about 4.30 if I take more work home than I otherwise would have done. But then if you count up the number of evening 'things' - parents' evenings, meet the tutor evenings, presentation evenings, shows, school trips that don't come back until late, etc...you end up losing your evening more often than you expect as well.

I'm a secondary teacher and I believe it's even worse in terms of workload for primary teachers as they get less PPA (planning, preparation, assessment) time built in to their day.

Anyway I could wax lyrical about all this forever - if you have any more questions please feel free to PM me but I won't hijack your thread!

I'm not one of these teachers who advises everyone else never to go into the profession...I love it and think if someone really wants to do it it, I would tell them to go for it with both hands. But not just as a 'possible better option'.

JustinCredibleGillespie

Do you think it would be a good idea to re-train as a teacher? I vaguely remember BBC had a documentary on a few months back about how many teachers were on the dole :(

JCG

xx

starjumper

This is ringing lots of bells for me, the very same situation. 15 month old baby, part time job I hate, it's ruining my health and I'm full of stress but we need to money, we'd go under without it. I can see I'm coming to a crossroads where a change needs to be made but it's frightening. I need a new career, I can't faff about in admin forever, it's soul-destroying, I want to do something that will make me happy, but what?

Will being a SAHM make me happy, yes almost certainly but is it the right thing to do?

It's a horrible thing to be paralysed by fear of making the wrong move.

Good luck

pukkamum

starjumper wrote: »

This is ringing lots of bells for me, the very same situation. 15 month old baby, part time job I hate, it's ruining my health and I'm full of stress but we need to money, we'd go under without it. I can see I'm coming to a crossroads where a change needs to be made but it's frightening. I need a new career, I can't faff about in admin forever, it's soul-destroying, I want to do something that will make me happy, but what?

Will being a SAHM make me happy, yes almost certainly but is it the right thing to do?

It's a horrible thing to be paralysed by fear of making the wrong move.

Good luck

How can it not be the right thing to do?
Unless not working is going to put you on the breadline then what is the problem with staying at home?
Your children will only ever be young once and if you cannot give them just four years of your life then it is a very sad situation indeed.

Sorry just seen you said you would go under without it, but what is going under? Not being able to afford to eat or not being able to have luxuries, and by luxuries i mean a bigger than needed house, new car, holidays etc.

victor2

Take a career break for a few years, then try to get back into your profession full time.
You then have the freedom to move to somewhere less expensive, but without rushing.
If you don't think you could cope staying at home, do some voluntary work. Very rewarding in its own way, and you get to choose what you do and when you do it.

Moneybot

Having been a SAHM for ten years whilst my boys were little I think it was the best thing I chose to do and I feel very lucky I had the chance to take that time out. At times you do feel like you made a mistake and that you would be better off working and the higher standard of living that brings but money can't buy you time and children don't stay children for long and if you don't take the chance to be with them when they want to be with you why have them in the first place?

I still miss the afternoons building the biggest Biro layout we could fit in the living room.

pukkamum

victor2 wrote: »

Take a career break for a few years, then try to get back into your profession full time.
You then have the freedom to move to somewhere less expensive, but without rushing.
If you don't think you could cope staying at home, do some voluntary work. Very rewarding in its own way, and you get to choose what you do and when you do it.

I always find the phrase oh i couldn't cope being at home with the children very strange indeed, why on earth would being at home watching your children grow and develop be so awful? After all they chose to bring that child into the world surely the very least they deserve is a parent willing to give just four years of their life to them so they can be raised by the person who loves them most.

And if it is so awful why did they have them in the first place?

Are these people who 'have' to go to work for their sanity the same people who probably do the lottery hoping never to have to work again?

serious_saver

pinkshoes wrote: »

Saying that, I've potentially been offered a role at another company which would be a slight change in role, a pay cut, but a great company to work for and a job with LOTS of potential. This is looking like my ONLY option in my current field if I want to work part time.

I think this would depend on just what the potential is. If it had good long term prospects I would be very temped by this.

If not I would seriously think about being a SAHM, moving to a bigger house but also looking at part-time courses in a field that you are genuinely interested in.

EDIT

That being said, I don't have children so I don't know if I can fully relate.

duchy

What is your gut telling you?

Forget logic for a moment

Which popped into your head first ?



Now you know !

poorly_scammo

With regard to this new company: I'd do as much research as possible about it before you have to make a decision. I have known a few friends who have been in your situation, have found a new company which seems great and then have found out that it wasn't what they thought it to be.

I'm not saying you should stay put but I would be thinking hard about this new company. Grass is greener; out of the frying pan and all that.