Pink Elephant
Well-Known Member
So, what was your official status when you were raising your family?
Did you stay-at-home, or did you work outside the home?
Did you stay-at-home, or did you work outside the home?
So nice to hear from you, KT.I was either working or going to school full time, or both. I was able to be home for a brief period when Miss KT was about 9, but otherwise I was pulling double duty, as a single parent most of that time.
I wanted (so bad) to work once the kids got older, but the opportunity for the right job never came along, so I resigned myself to being at home fulltime. More than anything we needed the money. husband's income provided us with the basics but never allowed us to see anything extra, and that was the hard part of raising a family on a single income.I was actually both. I started a business that I ran from home when my son was born. He had extreme separation anxiety so I essentially attended school with him every day from the time he was 15 months old (Montessori program) until he started 5th grade. There is no way I would have been able to work a typical job with having to be at the school constantly. I still work from home and he will be starting college in the fall.
I love hearing about stories where the husband steps up to the plate and takes the motherly role on.My husband lost his job when i was 6 months pregnant and my job was always more secure and had insurance. Sometimes he was mr mom and i had a couple months in summer.
That was me, too, though it was understood long before we had our first child, that I would be a stay-at-home mom. An occasional in-home babysitter, I did use, but otherwise this momma was at home and on duty 24/7.I told both husband's that I didn't want somebody else raising my kids and do not want my kids in daycare. So I worked part time jobs during hours when the kids were with their father. I didn't care what anyone else did. I wanted to be home. Being Mom was #1 to me. I never wished I could work full time and enjoyed being the neighborhood mom for all the latchkey kids. Many neighborhood kids called me Mom.
My kids had cookies and milk when they came home from school and could talk about their day. This was what I wanted for them. They all say they had good childhoods.
So I made an unpopular choice for my own reason. I didn't mind not having tons of money. My kids didn't go without. I did and I didnt really care. So this choice worked well for me. I have never been sorry.
I attribute baby siblings for helping me grow to be more baby/kid friendly and accepting.I admit, I did not and do not have the temperament for being a stay at home mom. My poor son would have been beaten before the week was out. An exaggeration, but I really am not a little kid person. They get on my nerves. I love my son and loved every moment (every tantrum-free moment) that I was with him...but I would not have if it had been 24/7.
Also, as I was single pretty much immediately, my choices were go back to my job or be a lawyer on welfare.
I hated being judged for working. I remember sitting across my desk from a woman, conducting her child support hearing, and when I was questioning her about her income some advised me she was not working because she didn't "believe in letting someone else raise my children" all the while looking at what was clearly photos of MY child all over my office! That was some nerve.