PYHO: Going Back To Work . . .

When Jason was born, just under 13 years ago, we decided I would stay home with him and not work full-time anymore.  Then 2 1/2 years later Andrew came along, so I continued to stay home.  As we were preparing for Andrew to start Kindergarten, I took the tests and classes to be a Substitute Teacher so that I could start working a little more when he started school, but still be around for the kids when they didn't have school.  I took my classes on a Thursday, was supposed to get a TB test on Monday, and then I would be able to start.  Only that Saturday we found out I was pregnant with Sarah Beth.  So those plans were put on hold.  

But now she's going to be starting Kindergarten in the Fall, so I guess it's time for me to go back to work.  (At least RYAN thinks it's time for me to go back to work)!  :(  I was thinking of doing the Substitute Teaching and refocusing on Real Estate on the days I'm not teaching, but he wants me to get a full-time job where I can get insurance for the family. 

Here's my dilemma.  I've been out of the work force for 13 years.  THIRTEEN YEARS.  I have no marketable skills.  So what do I do?  Not to mention, if I get a "real" job, that will mean having to put Sarah in Before/After School Care.  That costs $75 a week.  Of course, on the days they are out of school, that means I'll have to put her in there all day, so that will be more money.  Not to mention summer.  I've been able to spend the summers with the kids since Jason was born.  I won't be able to do that anymore.  And they, at least Sarah, will have to be at the Y program all day, every day, because I'll be at work.  So that's MORE money.  All in all, we're probably talking AT LEAST $7000-$8000 a year for child care, and more than that if we put Jason and Andrew in there also.  

Here's the other part of the problem.  I will be the first to admit that I'm not a very good housekeeper.  I HATE CLEANING HOUSE.  WITH A PASSION.  BUT, I still do it.  I also cook all of the dinners, and I do all of the laundry.  Everyone always has clean socks and underwear and clean clothes.  Plus, I lay Ryan's clothes out for him every morning before work.  If I start working full-time, that will NOT be happening.  We have been married for almost 16 years, and I can count on one hand the number of loads of laundry that he has done since I stopped working full-time.  I remember when we bought this house with the laundry on the same floor as all of the bedrooms.  One of the things he said to me was, "if the laundry is upstairs with us, then I can help you do the laundry."  Do you KNOW how many loads of laundry he's done since we moved here EIGHT YEARS AGO?  ONE.  That's right, ONE.  MAYBE TWO, but I think just ONE.  So yeah, he's a BIG help with the laundry.  NOT!  Again, that would be changing.  If I'm working full-time, I would NOT be the only one doing the laundry, the cooking and cleaning.  Our house might not be spotless, but at least HE doesn't have to do it.  NOW.  But again, that would change.  

The kids are getting older so we don't have a lot of wake ups in the middle of the night, but we do still have them on occasion, and I'm the one that always gets up with them, or stays up with Sarah if we can't get her to go to sleep, because he has to work in the morning, and I don't.  But if I'm working, I definitely won't be getting up every time.  He'll have to be doing some of that as well.  And getting the kids to before/after school care?  That's another thing we'd both have to take turns on.  The way things are now, he gets home between 5:30-6 and we eat dinner when he gets home.  Then the kids help me clean up from dinner and we're finished and playing outside or watching a movie by 6:30 or 7 pm.  But if I start working full-time I won't be home until at least 5:30 or 6, which means we'll just be starting to cook dinner at that time, and it'll be 7:30 or 8 before we're finished.  And again, I WON'T be doing it all by myself.  

Also, he travels.  Quite a bit.  And he said it's likely to be increased.  When I was planning on substitute teaching, I just figured I'd call myself off on the days he's out of town.  But if I'm going to be working full-time, that's not going to be an option.  So I'll be doing it all by myself, AND working full-time.  Just the thought of it stresses me out!  :(

I also pay all of the bills, do all of the grocery shopping and clothes shopping, take the kids to the doctor, pick them up when they're sick, pick them up when they have to stay after school for an event or practice, schedule all the things that need to be fixed around the house and make sure I'm here to let them in, do all of the Christmas shopping, and basically everything else that needs to be done.  EXCEPT the outside.  I don't cut grass or mess with the yard.  He does all that.  But I pretty much do EVERYTHING else.  And that's okay.  I took all of that on because he's working full-time and making the money for our family, and I'm not. 

I GET where he's coming from.  I really do.  I know he has to be envious that he's the one that has to get up and go to work every day, especially to a very stressful job, and I don't have to.  I get to sit around all day, watch my soaps and eat Bon Bons. Come on, you know that's what everyone thinks SAHM's do.  (I don't do either by the way.  Haven't watched a soap since before Andrew was born and don't think I've ever even HAD a Bon Bon).  So yeah, I GET it.  I know that has to suck.  And if I could get a job making the money he makes, then we could switch roles.  But I can't.  NOT going to happen.  But having BOTH of us work so he doesn't feel envious anymore, isn't the answer either.  Because if he thinks he's stressed now, wait until he works all day then has to come home and cook dinner and do laundry.  How stressed do you think he'll be THEN?!

So what do I do?  Do I get a job, any job, and just keep my mouth shut and go back to work?  Because I think once he realizes how much more stress it'll put on HIM, he'll decide after a few months that it's not the right decision and that I should quit.  Or do I try to convince him of this BEFORE starting a job?  But I think until he actually SEES and EXPERIENCES it, he's always going to think me working full-time is the answer.  And I don't know how to convince him otherwise, unless, like I said, he actually experiences it.

By the way, let me add that we have NO payments.  Our house is paid off and we don't have any car payments.  (And never will again).  We max out our 401K contributions and have separate ESA's for the kids that we fund every month with the maximum amount allowed.  We also have 3-6 months expenses in savings.  (THANK YOU DAVE RAMSEY)!  :)  So the point is, we don't NEED me to go back to work in order to live.  Yes, the money I make will give us more spending money and let us bulk up our savings more in case something happens, but we don't NEED it to live on.  I think that's very important to the situation.  If we needed the money to live, then I wouldn't even balk at it.  But we don't.

So now I'm asking, what would YOU do?  Am I wrong to think this way?  Am I acting like a spoiled "East End Housewife?"  Should I just keep my mouth shut and go back to work even though I will likely just be making enough money for insurance and child care with a little left for spending money?  Since I haven't worked in 13 years, it's not like I'm going to find a job paying 50K or more a year.  I'll be lucky to make 30K.   Not to mention all of the stress it's going to put on both of us.  What would you do?

Pouring My Heart Out with Shell today.  If you haven't checked out her blog, you REALLY should.  She ROCKS!  Plus, she has the most AWESOME name EV-ER!  :)

NEW YEARS GOALS . . .

I make the same resolution EVERY YEAR, and EVERY YEAR I fail. But I might as well be consistent, right?! These are my New Years GOALS:

The one I make every year and fail on:

TO LOSE WEIGHT. I won't even tell you how much I need to lose. Right now, I've started Weight Watchers and the initial goal they gave me is 14 lbs. So we'll start with that. So far I've lost 5 of those 14 lbs. 9 more to go. Actually, about 9 MILLION more to go, but 9 more for my short term goal. Besides, 9 lbs sounds MUCH better than 9 million! :)

TO BE MORE ORGANIZED. Now, for those of you that know me, I have NEVER been organized. And I'm 40 years old. My guess is I'm not just going to wake up at 41 and TA DA, I'm organized! But, at least I can work at it. To help me get started, my bestie bought me a REALLY nice calendar as part of my Christmas present. I guess she has more faith in me than I do! Thanks Laura!

TO WRITE MORE. I LOVE writing. I've loved writing since I was very young. But I don't seem to make the time for it like I did when I was younger. Of course, that could be because I have 2 jobs, a husband and 3 VERY ACTIVE children. But hey, enough with making excuses. My new goal is going to be to write at least 4 days a week. Whether I write for 5 minutes or 50 minutes, I'm going to try to do it at least 4 times a week. I'm the most excited about this goal for 2 reasons. Number 1, it's definitely the most attainable of my goals. And Number 2, I always feel better after I've spent a little bit of time writing. So I think it's a good goal to have.

TO DO BETTER IN MY BUSINESS. I have 2 jobs. (Besides being a Mom of course)! I have been a Realtor for almost 17 years. Wow! Hard to believe it's been that long. And I LOVE that job. My problem is that I'm not as good as I could be. My mom has been a Realtor since I was about 8. And she's much better at it than me. My problem is, I'm not her. And I never will be. She's an AWESOME Realtor. Always has been, always will be. Now don't get me wrong, I'm very good at my job. ONCE I get a client. I know how to take care of them and make sure they get what they need, when they need it. But I have a hard time GETTING the clients. I have a hard time just walking up to someone and saying, "Hi, my name is Michelle and I want to be your Realtor. And let me tell you why I'm the best person for the job." I can't do that. I've NEVER been able to do that. And I doubt I'll EVER be able to do that. But I CAN do Service Desk and other things to hopefully help me get more clients. If you are thinking of moving, I can also help you find a Realtor where you live. You can find out more information HERE.

I just started my other job a few months ago to help bring in more money. I work for a company called Thirty One Gifts. And I LOVE the items they sell. But so far I've only had 2 parties, and I'm not going to make much money at it if I only have 1 party every other month! So my goal is to have at least 1 party a month. That's more than what I've done so far. But again, it's kind of the same problem I have with Real Estate. I have a hard time just going up to people and talking about what I do. I think that's more of a self esteem issue than anything. Actually I KNOW it's a self esteem issue. But, like I said before, I'm 40. I'm not just going to wake up at 41 and have loads of self esteem. It's not going to happen. So I need to figure out how to work around it. And that's why it's a goal I've set for myself for this year. On THAT note, you can find out more about Thirty One HERE. We have lots of items that will be "retiring" to make room for new items which will be available February 1. We are also having our Thermal Tote sale this month. Large Totes are on sale for $10 ($4 savings) and Small Totes are on sale for $8 ($4.50 savings). Plus, personalization on the Totes is only $1.50 which is a $4.50 savings.

So that's it. The big ones anyway. I think I'll keep updating how I'm doing with my goals throughout the year. Maybe if I make myself more accountable, it will be easier to stick to them.