SAHM looking to get back to career and DH put into rotating shift work
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Anonymous
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I stay at home at the moment and did enough freelance work to make the work gap disappear. DD is 4 and I have stayed at home for 2 years. I was very excited to look for the next job this month, but DH was moved from his 9-5 position into a rotating shift, which will make his schedule weird and unpredictable, including early mornings, day shift, and overnights. My job is also unpredictable and could be shift work with unusual hours, so we could both wind up working weekends and/or overnights.
Both working, our HHI is 150k. I don't think we can both work without family in the area if this is the situation. Has anyone made this work? |
Anonymous
| This would be really hard without family or live-in help like an au pair. |
Anonymous
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I've had friends make this work but they all have au-pairs or really engaged, local family.
Can you afford an au-pair once you start work or will it defeat the benefit of returning to the workforce? |
Anonymous
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Thanks! I had not thought about the au pair option. Is it fair to ask au pairs to tend to kids overnight on a regular basis? I wouldn't have ever thought of that.
We can afford it, but we'd have to do some work to the house to make it a pleasant experience for everyone. We have 2-3 rooms/bedrooms on every floor and we would really have to really rethink the flow of who travels where in the house and at what times and which rooms it makes sense for who to sleep in, but we'd also have to tear out our finished basement ceiling and fix some of the floor issues. I have tried to sleep in different areas of the house and only the two rooms upstairs were DD and us sleep have any measure of privacy and quiet most of the day. The choices may be tear out the basement ceiling and fix it or resign myself to tearing my hair out as a SAHM. Or, to just embrace that this is not my time to go back to work. |
Anonymous
I would fix the basement issues- to me that's a win-win as it adds value to the house and you get to go back to work (which seem like what you want to do). And yes Au pairs can work overnight up to a max of 45 hours per week. It's not like they have to be awake all night- they can just sleep but perhaps in an area easily accessible to your DD. For me, I'd want the nights I worked overnight for the au pair to sleep in a room near DD instead of in the basement where she may not be able to hear DD or other things going on in the house. |
Anonymous
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There's a 24 hour daycare center in NE DC called Happy Faces, if I recall correctly. They offer regular 7a-6p care at typical DC rates, but also offer weird 24 hour, round the clock care options for people in just your situation. I toured a couple years ago and it looked nice. I was interested in a more typical schedule but they did mention that many of their clients who take up the odd-hour option are nurses, ER Dr's, EMTs, etc.
So that's another option. I'd definitely tour the facility if the location isn't too awful for you. I have an au pair and while it does provide fantastic flexibility, being on duty while the kid is sleeping counts towards working hours and that can quickly get you up to your 45 hour mark. But, maybe that's okay for you? Is the 4 yo is some kind of preschool? If so, the 45 hour cap may not be as restrictive for you. |
Anonymous
| I second looking into Happy Faces. I've heard about the night shift option and know a family that was pleased with it. |