n

We started kindergarten this year and have been very happy with the strong community feeling the school provides new families.

Having worked on the Hill for a very senior senator --while I was single and childless-- I can tell you that the working mothers, not the fathers, were stressed to the max and often discriminated against (not necessarily in our office). Working on the hill is not just a job, it is a lifestyle choice, similar in thought process to joining the foreign service or military --your boss and constituents come first. This can be hampered by working for a reasonable member and hopefully a reasonable Chief of Staff,etc but there is no promise, and even in the best situations you must work the late hours whenever you have a bill on the floor, which can be nightmarish during approps/authorization season. Committee staff is a great place to be to earn more money, but there they can often work more hours because they are organizing the hearings and often preparing the member's key legislation. My heart is on the hill but I no longer work there because I know what it takes to work up there in most environments and having two little ones would just put two much stress on me, and therefore my family.