Sahm to wfh?
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Anonymous
| How big of a jump is it for a SAHM to work remotely? What I mean, is you are already at home. There is no commute, you’ve already have your routines in place for your kids. I understand it will depend on the job but anyone do this and how was the transition? |
Anonymous
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It was a big jump for me, but absolutely, incredibly the right choice for me and for our family. I was only a SAHM by circumstances/accident (think military spouse), it was not my ideal.
I went back into the workforce when my child was 1 year old. It is a high-intensity job (as in, you can't do it on autopilot, requires a lot of engagement) but not long hours or high stress, most of the time. I am SO happy I went back, I'm a much more balanced person now. And bonus that we now have much more income. The biggest transition was just all the daycare logistics...sooo many colds and quarantines. My DH thankfully took the bulk of sick days the first year or so, so I could avoid being absent. I would say, start coming up with contingency plans if your kid gets sick, childcare falls through, school closes, etc. Make some good babysitter connections and mom friends if you don't already have those, so you can cover unexpected issues. |
Anonymous
| I mean, you need childcare. Will you be getting childcare? |
Anonymous
Why do you need childcare for 2 hours after school? Can't they do hw, chores, relax, snack, etc.. while you are at home working? |
Anonymous
Or if you get flexible hours, you could start work early and stop early? |
Anonymous
| I have always worked from home even pre-Covid and could not have managed without a nanny. When they were little, it was a given but even after school age, they were still out at 2. And then the countless sick days and holidays. To be productive and successful at my job, I have to devote the business hours to work so I needed nanny to pick up the kids, take them to activities or the park, handle the kids laundry and food preparation as well as grocery shopping and the kids errands (mostly buying birthday gifts for the countless weekend parties). There is no way I could do it all. |
Anonymous
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What are you going to do about all of the random days off from school? Or unexpected things like illness?
If you don't have something in place for childcare you're going to make a pretty crummy employee. |
Anonymous
Oh my gosh, yes holidays, and all of those full days off of school for random things. Shoot. It's like if you go back to work you have to outsource some of what you provided being a sahm. Ugh, the mental load. |
Anonymous
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But all of you who are currently working are doing it, so you must all be finding a way?!
I see how a nanny would fill in all the gaps. Omg, so many problems. |
Anonymous
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It really depends on the kids.
Older kids, no activities, walkable from school or bus, walkable to friends, can entertain themselves and do homework independently. Sure. Typical 6 yo needing help, snacks, loud, playing sports, wants a play date. Might need help. |
Anonymous
| We had an Au pair until our oldest was driving and then we just had to juggle the younger one between the two of us. |
Anonymous
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I did it and it SUCKS without childcare. (Again, that depends on the age of your children - mine are under 6). Like, it's not sustainable for more than say a month or two. So then I hired a mother's helper. I was trying to not pay a full nanny's rate because (1) I was there and able to help as needed; (2) I didn't ask her to do anything beyond watch the kids - no meal prep, no shopping, no laundry, no clean up. But the kids were still disruptive and honestly my mother's helper didn't do much beyond plop them in front of the TV. I wanted to encourage her to do more, but I was stuck in my office working. And I was only paying her $15/hr, so I felt like I couldn't be too pushy. (I couldn't afford more because I wasn't making that much more to justify it!)
It actually made it really tough WFH because I became critical and resentful of my childcare. And kids under six will interrupt you. My advice would be either stay a SAHM or find a WFH job that (1) pays enough for you to justify paying a nanny a nanny rate and (2) has an option to get you out of the house. You could also do the daycare route, but then you are still driving to/from the daycare, which might eat some time. |
Anonymous
So you would keep your door closed and not acknowledge your kids when they got home until after your workday was over? |
Anonymous
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I’ve done wfh part-time since my eldest was born 12 years ago. Part-time has been ideal. Now that my youngest is 9, I’m probably going to full-time starting in September. My work is very flexible and my kids are good at amusing themselves. I think it would have been harder when they were younger, unless we had a nanny or something. I might have managed it a couple of years ago too, but Covid got in the way.
Honestly the hardest thing for me is dinner time. I hate coming off a full day of work and having to feed four people. If your dh helps with the cooking, it might be easier for you. |
Anonymous
You can wfh and take a break to say hello to your children. One does not preclude the other. |