Comments on: Should I Be a Work at Home Mom?

By: Eastern

Eastern — Tue, 26 Jan 2010 01:46:28 +0000

Hello-

I’m sure you mean baby sitter – not “baby sisters.”

And adding on to the post – maybe Emma should work from home. There are many professional jobs that allow people to work from home nowadays.

By: Steve |MyWifeQuitHerJob

Steve |MyWifeQuitHerJob — Thu, 21 Jan 2010 03:22:07 +0000

Congrats! It seems as though your situation is the same as mine except the opposite. Emma should go back to work if not for health insurance reasons alone. Best of luck to you!

By: Financial Samurai

Financial Samurai — Wed, 20 Jan 2010 17:24:46 +0000

Exciting times David! Good luck!

I think Emma should NOT stay at home and work, given that’s what she wants. Furthermore, since you get to work at home, makes sense for you to be Mr. Mom! That’s got to be one of the great benefits of being a pro blogger right?

BTW, sent you a shout out on my latest post at the end. Thanks for all the support!

By: Alan Spiegelman

Alan Spiegelman — Tue, 19 Jan 2010 19:30:09 +0000

This is a very tough question that’s relevant to so many of us who are married to moms with careers. It’s impossible to come up with a definite “yes” or “no” answer to this question, because the choice that needs to be made is so personal. We’re all unique and we all have unique goals and values. The one thing that we can do is ask ourselves these questions and consider any other consequences. People in this situation might want to consider their long-term financial goals as well as the stability of the working parent’s job over the long-term. And some people may want to chat with a financial expert to help identify questions they haven’t thought of. For example, for those who have company-sponsored life insurance or disability insurance policies, they might want to consider how those would be affected, and what steps they could take to address any gaps in long-term plans. At the end of the day, it all comes down to personal priorities and goals. There are pitfalls and possibilities down each path, but if you’ve asked yourself the tough questions, hopefully you can find peace with your final decision. Best of luck!

By: Peggy

Peggy — Tue, 19 Jan 2010 14:23:06 +0000

I was a stay at home Mom for a while and my husband has very good health insurance plan and although we took a hit money wise with me staying home it did work for a while. I did babysit for family and friends to earn some money when times were tight and they knew that I would treat their children like they were my own (which I absolutely did). I did eventually return back to work without having to take the option of paying for my health insurance so I was lucky in that respect. It’s the quality of time spent with your children not the quantity, I have seen the good, the bad and the down right ugly when it comes to stay at home Moms as well as working Moms it’s all about the love and support you both give to this child not the “man hours” your with your child. By the way, my oldest is getting ready to go off to college and my youngest is in middle school and both are doing quite well and they both know how much my husband and I love and adore them and that’s really what counts.

By: MoneyNing

MoneyNing — Tue, 19 Jan 2010 07:41:55 +0000

I believe once they reach school age, I can handle everything because I can concentrate on what I need to do while she’s at school, but at the beginning, we will definitely see how everything plays out.

Planning is good, but it’s impossible to have a good plan when you don’t know what will exactly happen.

By: MoneyNing

MoneyNing — Tue, 19 Jan 2010 07:40:08 +0000

You have a strong argument about how I can work at home and try to multitask, but that’s not something that’s possible right now for us.

There are many things that need my total concentration, and I don’t want to do two things with 50% effort when each need my COMPLETE attention.

We might try to get a baby sister to come over to work a few hours a day though while I can focus on what I need to do everyday.

By: RC@Thinkyourwaytowealth

RC@Thinkyourwaytowealth — Tue, 19 Jan 2010 00:38:32 +0000

One thing to remember, assuming your wife takes a maternity leave of 6 to 12 weeks is that you will get a trial run of what it would be like. As it seems you suspect, your wife may be ready to get back to the workplace, but she may not, you never know. As someone pointed out above, you can evaluate it as it happens. With a newborn, it will be a lot more time consuming for her than as the child grows, but even at several years old they need a lot of attention (and supervision)!

By: Robert

Robert — Mon, 18 Jan 2010 23:19:35 +0000

If you can make a decent living on it, I say go for it. I would live to spend more time at home and schedule my own hours.

By: marci

marci — Mon, 18 Jan 2010 21:40:15 +0000

Take the maternity leave and enjoy the baby while she can. If Emma likes working, and it provides health care, then she can go back to work outside of the home.

You become Mr. Mom and work at home also. Find ways to multi-task,
like moms HAVE to do

Thousands of moms work at home and raise the kids too, so it can be done.
It’s just a matter of scheduling. I know, I did all the secretary and bookwork for our four businesses from home with 3 little ones running around. Plus the cooking, cleaning, and sewing all the kids’ clothes.
You do what you have to do

With you at home, there is really NO reason for daycare, except when you
have appts. The two of you should be able to schedule your work time around the baby and around her naps, play times, and when Emma is home, and on weekends. Babies sleep a LOT that first year And it’s only ONE baby
Closed door will work when Emma is home. She’ll want exclusive time with the baby also – after you have her all day!

Work up a schedule of the household chores so neither of you feels overwhelmed or taken advantage of.