Leaving the workplace to 'work' at home

Lotus-eater

I'm confused, can't we just say its OK to work and also OK to stay at home?
I don't even think there is a discussion here. Do what you want, no one is criticizing anyone, whats right for one person is not right for another.
Our life would drive most couples to divorce or the loony bin, but we love it.

shelovestobuystuff

Each to his own.Its a personal thing and no-one here has said that mothers shouldnt work.Some women feel the need to work and others feel the need to stay at home,some need a bit of both.I think its about wanting to be where you feel you are making the biggest difference.
We all have to have the guts to do what suits us best no matter what anyone else thinks.
I was a working mother for a while and now am a SAHM.I did feel I had to resist a lot of pressure to return to work and my circle of family and friend had an expectation that I would.I shocked them by going against the grain.I cant see how being a SAHM is shocking.
Its whatever suits you ,your family and your circumstances best at the time.

Essex-girl_2

Love this thread - never liked Liz Jones personally.

I am a sahm mum but also run my own business and a joint business with oh, most of our business is working nights which OH has done - he gets home early so is with me most of the day, but in the next few weeks will be working days to build up that side of the business.

If he was staying on nights I would definately be looking for a p/t job - the extra money would be handy & being at home together drives us both mad but as he wont be here most of the time I will be staying at home. (If I did work OH would do most of the housework tasks)

I have definately worked out that working does cost a lot. I am going to make being at home work a lot more for me - once I get up straight the business paperwork doesnt take too much time each day. I will then be spending 2 days a week ebaying - and hope to make around £50w for a while. I will continue to make hm dinners, saving the cost of takeaways and ready made meals that I know I would use if I worked. I will start making more hm snacks, cakes and biscuits - cutting the grocery budget further.
Roughly Ive worked out that with doing this I will be saving and making money to a tune of around £100pw.

I am lucky in that the village where I live is full of sahm mums however even if it wasnt I really wouldnt be bothered about what other people thought - any comments that have been made to me have been more of an envious nature.

Nowdays you dont just pack children off to school - they need and the schools seem to expect a lot of input education wise when they are at home - they get lots of homework and projects.

I feel lucky to be at home and feel very sorry for people who want to be at home but have to work especially it it is a job they hate. My OH doesnt have a problem with him being at work and me being at home. Now his hours have changed we are looking forward to being organised during the week so that the weekends are pure family time.

Triggles

I don't think anybody on here was knocking anyone else's choices. I know that when I had my DD years ago, I had no choice and had to go back to work as I was divorced and it was my only income. I hated it, but realised that it had to be, and dealt with it accordingly. This time around, with DS, I did try to go back to work full time (and am currently doing so) but DH & I have decided that we prefer that one of us be home with DS instead. So I will be SAHM in a few months time. For us, that is what we want and what works. I certainly don't feel the need to criticise those either must or want to work full time. I merely stated that we tried both and having me work full time didn't work for us.

The only thing most of us consistently were criticising was Liz Jones - and I don't think that's a big issue with everyone. :rolleyes: Oh, and some of us did indicate that nosey people who felt it was their business to pry into why we were or were not working were irritating. But again, that applied to both SAHMs and WOHMs, as they both get questioned by nosey people.

I would appreciate it if sweeping generalisations such as:

you are much more sensible than the average American (wry smile)

were utilised a bit less, especially as you don't know who on the board may be American and take offence. Me, for instance. Or maybe someone else. I happen to know a fair number of Americans that are pretty sensible, thank you very much.