Working Moms

[flipflop]

I'm a working mom of three kids-10 month old twin boys and a DD4. I must confess a bad mom secret...I like working. I can barely remember a time with I didn't work. I started working at a neighborhood grocery when I was 16 and I haven't been without a job since.

Full-time working mom here! I like working too (could it be because we both have multiples? There are Mondays when I am more tired from my weekend than I am on a Friday after working all week). I stayed home for 9.5 months and didn't look forward to a return to full-time employment but now that I am back I am enjoying the intellectual stimulation I get practicing my profession. My ideal situation would be to work 3 days.

 

[loriandmatt]

another Full time working mom here.

i have never been fortunate enough to have the oppertunity to do anything less than work full time when raising my DS (now 12) and my DD (now 2.5)

did you notice that...i have a 9 year gap between them. i CERTAINLY attribute that large gap to the fact that i work full time. i know my personal limits and i know that i could not handle my job, that of my husband and my children be closer together. (we were shooting for 5-6 year gap and my body was not cooperating.)

anyway - i am a salaried employee which translates into i have a flexable work schedule, but that flexability just means that i very regularly have to work early or late hours without getting any overtime. I am working for supplemental income - no way we could live even at bare minimums on DH's wage - but i also am working to put my kids thru college for free. i work for a college and one of my bennies is a free education for myself, spouce and children.

DH is a cop and his work schedule is CRAZY and constantly changing.

 

[1rockinmamato2]

I have a question (and it may have already been mention, if so I apologize): How do all of you who find the word "butt" offensive handle the scene in Finding Nemo with the boat?

 

[DawnM]

He didn't say butt, he said bot (short vowel sound "o").

Dawn

I have a question (and it may have already been mention, if so I apologize): How do all of you who find the word "butt" offensive handle the scene in Finding Nemo with the boat?

 

[DISNEYFOS]

He gets home around 5 and has to help with homework and fix dinner (not one of his strengths). I usually try to have something in the crock pot of something prepared. I do get frustarted when he calls me (I get off at 5:30 but sometimes don't leave until almost 6.) and asks whats for dinner. Those nights it's usally a fast food night. He refuses to cook breakfast food for dinner, which is such a quick fix. A while ago, he teasingly told me he didn't want to be me anymore, it was too hard!

A little off topic here but with both my DH and I working, we had some difficulties with "divvying" up the household chores/dinner etc. One thing we started which has been a godsend is we trade off weeks for dinner prep and food shopping. Each week one of us is responsible for meal planning, food shopping and dinner prep and the other one doesn't need to worry about it. Granted on DHs week we certainly don't eat gourmet but I love it that he's trying and its so very nice not to worry about it.

 

[beattyfamily]

I have a question (and it may have already been mention, if so I apologize): How do all of you who find the word "butt" offensive handle the scene in Finding Nemo with the boat?

 

[RachaelRol]

Me too. Working mom here although not today. I took the day off to clean and here I am Dising...

I love my job!!!! I am happy to work and expect to continue to do so. DS is five. We want to have another, probably next year.

On April 13th I get a very big bonus from work that will pay off all of our credit card bill, renovate our garage and we'll have some left over to save.
Once this is done, we can start trying for baby 2. I hope DH will stay home. I carry our medical insurance. It's easier financially to save for college and retirement with two incomes.

I think its great to see so many working moms!!!

 

[Xcited4Disney]

Another working mom checking in and single to boot! I'm an RN and work 12 hour nightshifts. My dd satys with my mom the nights I have to work. My schedule works because we plan our own work schedules plus I'm able to take her to school and be there when she gets home and help with homework and such. I love being a nurse, but I hate HAVING to work. Praying for a husband who insists that I should stay home!

 

[carone0318]

Hi everyone! I work full-time too. I really wouldn’t change a thing. I have always worked full-time before & after my kids were born. My salary is the equivalent of what my dh makes. The best thing about my job is my hours, I work 7-3pm. Dh does the morning shift with the kids because I am already gone when they get up and I do the pick up routine.

Both dh and I are not neat freaks, so cleaning is done when it is done. We spend a ton of time with the kids and I clean when I get around to it. When I am laying on my deathbed, I will not be saying – gosh I wish I spent more time cleaning my house. I cook dinner (because I am home first) and dh cleans up the dinner dishes. This isn’t written in stone, but it is usually how it works. We cook dinner every night except on Friday's which is pizza night. Some nights our schedules are different and dh will cook and I will clean.

We have 1 hamper in the house and it is located in the laundry room, everyone is responsible for putting their clothes in the hamper or they don’t get washed. I usually do the laundry, but dh has helped on several occasions.

House cleaning, something that I have done before which really worked out great was involve everyone. I hate to vacuum and dh knows it so he usually vacuums the house for me (plus we have a roomba, which helps for during the week). Ds – 6 likes to vacuum too, so he gets to vacuum the family room and the Master bedroom. Ds also likes to take those Pledge wipes and will wipe down the banisters. Dd – 10 puts her and ds’s laundry away (already folded). She goes around the house with the Pledge wipes and the Windex wipes and dusts everything and cleans the tv’s and stuff. I will clean the bathrooms, the hardwood floors and the kitchen. Dh and the kids are responsible for getting the playroom (a 20x21 foot room) straighten. It’s too bad for me to handle, so they take care of that.

We also seem to fit in soccer practices (twice a week and games once a week for dd – tournaments too.) Dh is the coach for both of the kids soccer. Ds will start playing again on 4/15, both on Sat & Sun - he's only 6 so his sports aren't as involved as dd's, but it change as he gets older. Dd also has gymnastics 4 times a week (M, W, F & Sat) that I get her to and from (she is a competitive gymnast - competitive gymnastics requires a lot of hours in the gym, for those who aren't familiar with it). I am very involved with the gymnastics, I just finished taking the test to become a Meet Director for dd’s gym.

I love my crazy-busy-hectic life and wouldn’t change it for anything - maybe add a 25th hr, just for an extra hr of sleep a night.

 

[Tam1067]

I'm a full time working mom too. I teach at a college so I do get summers off, and my schedule allows me to get home in time to meet the kids' bus, take DD to dance lessons, and sometimes even make the school's holiday parties.

DH does not have health insurance through his work, but I have excellent benefits, so my job covers that. Also, if it weren't for my job, we would not be staying at the Polynesian!

I love working and will continue to do so. I think it's important for my children to see that women can use their educations in the professional world, and that all of us can be successful and fulfilled outside of the home regardless of our gender.

 

[1rockinmamato2]

I love working and will continue to do so. I think it's important for my children to see that women can use their educations in the professional world, and that all of us can be successful and fulfilled outside of the home regardless of our gender.

I agree with you 100%. Even though I would like to be a SAHM since I miss my children so much each day and I've crunched the numbers to see if we could handle doing without my salary - I've often thought about my degree and how I'd be setting it aside. I worked hard for that thing and would hate for it to get dusty!

My job also gives me a great retirement plan and I'd also worry about nothing being set aside for my retirement which is important to me because I'll have children in college when it's time for me to retire.

Plus, my kids love daycare and having other kids to interact with each day.

 

[ekball]

Part-time working mom over here! I work 3 days/week (Tues-Thurs), and am home with my kiddos on Mondays and Fridays (uh hello?! There's nothing like a 4-day weekend EVERY weekend!! ). I honestly feel like I am so lucky to have such a great situation! Time at home with my kids, time at work doing what I love (oh yeah, and that teeny-tiny issue of health & dental insurance....it's a huge part of why I work), AND a great daycare for my kids! They are in a small, home daycare with a woman (a friend) who absolutely adores my children, and is an amazing daycare provider and teacher (not just the ABC's, but life, manners, love, friendship, etc. My kiddos have learned so much from her). I can't begin to tell you how lucky I feel when I see my kids sprint into her arms every Tuesday (after 4 days away from her!). They learn so much from her, from the other children, and from being in a stimulating environment outside of our home. I feel very lucky that both my children and I have, what I consider to be, 'the best of both worlds'.

Oh yes, and I will just add that as much as I adore my children, I know that we are all better off for having some time away from eachother each week.

 

[mericletwins]

I thought this was so interesting - DH & I both completely ahore the word "butt" and don't allow our dd4 to say it. We call it "booty" for her. We consider "butt" extremely derogatory compared to "booty" for a pre-schooler. Why would you let a little girl/boy say "butt" over "booty"? I honestly don't get this, and am asking sincerely

Hmmm...we don't allow either. I find booty to be completely inappropriate and butt to be rude.

 

[mericletwins]

I have a question (and it may have already been mention, if so I apologize): How do all of you who find the word "butt" offensive handle the scene in Finding Nemo with the boat?

My kids just clapped their hands over their mouths and looked at me. They know that other people say words that are inappropriate in our family.Just as long as my kids aren't saying them.

 

[emma'smom]

Congratulations folks...five pages of keeping it positive! Let's keep it up!

 

[susykt4]

I've been working fulltime for a little over a year after staying at home (working very parttime- Sat mornings only) for several years. I was going crazy staying at home and was thrilled to get my dream job. I LOVE working fulltime. My son is in fulltime daycare (4) and DD6 is in school and goes to a latchkey program after school, the Y on school days off and a park district summer camp. I am much happier working fulltime- I'm soooo much more organized HAVING to keep on a schedule!

 

[shellyfive]

My hubby and I both work full-time, and we re-arrange schedules a lot! I'm a vet, he's an arranger/musician.....so life is very colorful at our homestead to say the least!

My sign in the kitchen reads - Welcome to one and all
come in , relax, converse
Our house doesn't always look like this.....
sometimes it's even WORSE!!!!

to all the mom's, home or not, who manage to make everyone elses lives so much better!!!!

 

[julm26]

I am a working mom of a 2yr old beautiful little girl. I also take care of my terminally ill mom who lives with us and I have my own health problems. Lucie goes to daycare and LOVES IT!!! She is and will always going to be an ONLY child - due to the fact I'm 40 and have some heart problems!! She is such an outgoing child and is learning so much!! I've always said I am a better mother because I work. I wasn't made to stay home!!!

 

[Luv Bunnies]

My boys are 11 and 8. I've worked part time since my oldest was born (actually, I tried 3 months of full time and hated it so I went part time). Right now, my work hours are 8:30 - 1:30. I work as a teaching assistant in a school in our district. The great thing is that I get all of the same breaks, holidays and teacher workdays as my kids (assistants don't have to work on teacher work days so I get them all off with my kids). I really like my job right now and the hours and breaks fit our schedule perfectly. I opted out of the health insurance since my husband gets coverage for all of us through his job.

 

[swillis]

I am a working mom. I work full time as as assistant manager at a veterinary clinic. I am also a certified veterinary technician. I also also on the board of directors for a non profit animal shelter in my area.
My kids are 11 and 12. I have also worked full time. I was a single mom for several years until I got remarried a few years ago. I could not imagine not having a job outside the home. It gives me a great sense of fullfillment, and satisfaction.