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[quote=Anonymous]SAHM and WOHM aren't the only options.

People make fun of this, but being a SAHM with a side hustle, or a PT WAHM (same thing), is awesome. And it's especially great if you had a baby a little later in life (late 30s) because at that point you've generally got 15 years of experience under your belt. My side hustle is basically doing what I've always done, but on a consulting/contract basis and on an extremely part-time schedule. I rarely work more than 2 hours a day except maybe once a month when I'm up against a deadline. My kid is in public school so that's 6 hours a day when I can work without paying for childcare. I'm always around after school and available for sick days or random days off from school. I structure my projects so I don't work almost at all in July , which eases the burden of summer care by a lot (we still usually hire a sitter or do day camp, but usually just half day because I like having a month every year where I just get lots of one-on-one bonding time with DD).

I started my business when DD was a baby and it took a couple years to get to this point. During those years, we lived off DH's salary and he was super supportive. I really wanted to be home those early years and I'm so glad I was, but I also really wanted to be working and earning money again so the drive to get my business functioning was totally mine. I'm sure it's a relief for him to not be the sole earner (I do think that can be very stressful, though his job is insanely secure so we didn't stress about him getting laid off or something, which helped a lot). But he told me once that if I brought in just $2/month, everything else is gravy. I don't totally agree (I want more money, more savings for DD, more to invest), but it's really great to be in a place where I don't feel like I have to work my butt off or take every single project I'm offered. We're not rich, but we live below our means and don't spend money on stuff like nice cars or expensive clothes.

If I worked FT, I'd make more than twice what my DH makes, easy. If I want to, I could build my business into a FT job. I just... don't want to. My time is really valuable. Right now, in addition to working and some housework, I spend some of the time my DD is at school working on writing a book. It's so rewarding. I really feel like my life is exactly what I want.

That's what I want my DD to learn. Not that she HAS to work or she HAS to stay home, but that you get one life and you get to choose. I'm lucky in some ways but I've also worked really hard to structure my life this way. I recommend it to anyone who is sick of the grind but not built for long term SAHMing either (I was not). [/quote]

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