Working Full Time - Mums??

masonsmum

I attended a job interview last week for a new job as an Office Manager for a local agricultural society, it seems a great position and on Friday they emailed to say the were very impressed with me and want me to come back for a second interview and meet the President of the society.

I might be counting my chickens before they are hatched but I am looking for some advice on how other working mums manage their time. I havent worked full time since my eldest son who is now 8 was born. I currently only work 3 days Mon-Wed from 9-4.

The new positions hours of work are 9-5 with a degree of flexibilty, I am going to ask to come in around 9.15 so I can still do the school run and stay later at night?

I can be quite OCD with regards to my housework and routine, DH says I just need to not let it bother me and says he will help more with regards to making packed lunches, washing etc.

I am very lucky that I do not need to pay for childcare, youngest DS is starting the nursery in a few months so my mum, MIL and SIL have all offered to help.

However after discussing with my SIL at the weekend she thinks Im mad, that I should have a better work/life balance! She only works part time and her DH works 7 days a week 52 weeks a year, I would prefer to work full time with DH to give us a better quality of life, we have worked out we would be around £600 a month better off if I take this job and we would just make the weekends more precious.

Any advice is greatly appreciated.

djtonyb

I work full time and have a 10 year old daughter. My DH is a mid day supervisor so childcare is not an issue. Routine and planning is the biggest thing I need to get right but it works for us

Bangton

I think you should take it and kudos for wanting to. That's an awful lot of money to be better off.

Many mums have to or choose to work full time (including myself once maternity leave is over) and they cope. I assume no one will be in the house to make a mess in the day anyway! !

I wouldn't pass it up. . It sounds like a great job. I don't know why your sil's husband is working so much. If it's so she can be part time I think it's a bit unfair. Everyone needs respite. . Mums and hard working dads included

masonsmum

It does sound like a great job, and I am very keen, just felt totally deflated after speaking to SIL at the weekend as if I was some sort of bad parent for wanting to work full time.

Its far too much money to even consider turning down, as things stand at the moment DH and I can be quite restricted to what we can do with the kids at the weekend as we always always seem to be watching the pennies just now.

The extra money would enable us to do so much more as a family and not have to worry about the cashflow!

GobbledyGook

That's a big chunk of money every month so I don't blame you for going for it.

Tbh your SIL sounds a bit selfish (obviously that's only a snap judgement), but where is her husband's work-life balance?

You'll need to a be a bit more organised to ensure that your weekends don't become all about 'washing and windows' (that's what my friend called them when she first became a single Mum - her ex took the kids and she got into the habit of doing al the house work rather than having time to herself).

However you could use the extra income to pay for some help if it starts to bother you. Either a cleaner to help keep on top of the housework or things like paying someone to do the ironing.

Good luck!

GobbledyGook

masonsmum wrote: »

It does sound like a great job, and I am very keen, just felt totally deflated after speaking to SIL at the weekend as if I was some sort of bad parent for wanting to work full time.

Its far too much money to even consider turning down, as things stand at the moment DH and I can be quite restricted to what we can do with the kids at the weekend as we always always seem to be watching the pennies just now.

The extra money would enable us to do so much more as a family and not have to worry about the cashflow!

At the end of the day how many hours with the children are you sacrificing really? A couple after school/nursery at most?

In return for that you'll be able to spend high quality time together at weekends doing things that your children will always remember.

£600 a month is £7200 a year - think of all the things you could do with, and for, your children with 7k plus

cazziebo

I'd second hiring a cleaner. I don't think I would have managed without mine when my children were young. The three of us would have a tidy up the day before she came so that her two hours were spent cleaning rather than tidying. And it was amazing what she got done in that two hours. Meant that my weekends were free rather than catching up on housework.

You will get into a routine very quickly. Just make sure everyone - including the children - do their share.

Hope you land the job - fingers crossed for you!

onlyroz

I work 35 hours a week and my husband works 37 hours. We have arranged it so that I do all the morning school runs which means that I get into work around 9:30. My husband does three long days on Mon-Wed and then two short days on Thurs-Fri. I do three shorter days Mon-Wed and two longer ones on Thurs-Fri. The kids go into the after-school club on Mon-Wed and my husband picks them up on Thurs-Fri.

This arrangement enables us to minimise the childcare required while still bringing in two full pay-checks.

As for house-work - my view is that most people do far too much. I spend a few hours at the weekend doing a hoover and a mop, and the kitchen and bathroom get a quick wipe-down after each use. Then maybe I'll do a deeper clean on a monthly basis.

I get in from work at around 6:15 and then immediately prep dinner, making the packed lunches for the following day while the food is cooking. I'll park the kids in front of their homework and then we'll eat together around 6:45, giving us all an hour or so family time before it's time to do baths, bedtime stories etc etc.

I think that the benefits of full-time work far outweigh the negatives. As we have two salaries coming in we are able to go on two holidays a year and we have a spacious house in a nice area. I think that we can provide a far better quality of life for our children than if we dropped down to 1 or 1.5 salaries.

FBaby

Ultimately it comes down to whether the benefits you will grin from the additional income will out weight what you will lose in time and energy. My husband and work full time and do all the cleaning and gardening because we don't see the point is working to pay for that help. It is the right choice for us because it allows for a lifestyle that we all value very much but it is exhausting ans I am counting the years down by which our mortgage will be paid for and I will be able to reduce my hours without reducing my disposable income.

marywooyeah

It sounds like a great job and from the way your posts are worded I think you'd kick yourself later if you passed it up.

I've worked fulltime for years, although ironically today is my first day of maternity leave lol! My son is about to turn six and my work allow me to get in at 9:20am to drop him off at school - I usually just work through lunch anyway but the agreement was that I'd have a 40 minute lunch instead of an hour to make up the time and it didn't affect the salary

I'm sure your new boss could come to a similar arrangement if you asked, it's only 15 mins per day for you so not an unreasonable request.

The key thing to working fulltime is keeping organised - make tomorrow's packed lunches as you're cooking dinner, then it's only one lot of cooking and you can clean the kitchen afterwards, ensuring that it remains clean until the next day.

Invest in a slow cooker - you can chuck easy healthy meals into it in the morning and it's ready to be served when you get home - check out the slow cooker thread over on the oldstyle moneysaving board.

Sunday nights are usually sticking a film on and working through a pile of ironing - this means that all my husband's shirts for the next week are hanging up ready for him to pick out a clean one each day, same with the school uniform for my son and work clothes for me.

I usually do a load of washing each day, putting the machine on as I go to work and it's finished when I get home. Blitzing the clothes into piles allows them to be put away swiftly, reducing clutter and ensuring that the washing is kept on top of.

I share the sentiment of the above poster - there's no point going out to earn money to pay someone to clean your house. Sweeping the floors takes ten minutes per night, same for wiping down the bathroom surfaces and I have a carpet sweeper so I can give the carpets a once over rather than having to get the bulky noisy hoover out each night.

If you follow a simple routine you can work full time, bringing in a lot more money, and keep your house clean at the same time. Then the weekends are free for quality days with your son, and you'll be able to afford to do lots more things with him!

Good luck for the interview!

maman

masonsmum wrote: »

It does sound like a great job, and I am very keen, just felt totally deflated after speaking to SIL at the weekend as if I was some sort of bad parent for wanting to work full time.

Its far too much money to even consider turning down, as things stand at the moment DH and I can be quite restricted to what we can do with the kids at the weekend as we always always seem to be watching the pennies just now.

The extra money would enable us to do so much more as a family and not have to worry about the cashflow!

What your SIL and most posters seem to have missed is that you might actually want to work full time both to pull your weight financially in the family and (more importantly IMO) to use your skills as an office manager. Everyone seems to be simply focussing on extra money.


These days the majority of women are educated at least to the same standard as men and it seems crazy to me that they wouldn't want to make their way in the world and would happily stay at home provided they found a man who earned enough to keep them. I can't understand that mentality at all.


As for paying for help: I found I could get into a routine that meant I didn't need a cleaner as we weren't there to mess it up so a weekly clean was enough with DH helping. Maybe you'll become less OCD abut the housework when you've other things to focus on. But I wouldn't hesitate in paying someone to clean or iron or garden if it freed up my time to do something I preferred.


I do hope you get the job.:)