Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:I’m so irritated that everyone keeps blaming op for her job. She has reasonable hours and good salary for Law. She doesn’t need to mommy track anymore than she already has.
The problem is that her husband is working crazy hours. He needs to take more of a break in the evenings and help out more. OP is not the problem. And they need tips for how to outsource more. That’s really what Op was asking. She does not need to mommy track more.
no, it is her job because she’s the one complaining. her husband, correctly, thinks that since they earn 750k HHI he doesn’t need to come home for dinner. Someone else will handle it. That person can be OP or it can be a housekeeper or au pair. Very, very few people earning 500k are going to drop everything to do dishes and bedtime from 6-9 every night. Her choice. Leaving aside her DH, I think any job that makes you regularly work several hours after your young kids’ bedtime is unsustainable.
Wife of the big law partner here: my husband does dinner and bedtime with the kids every night. I clean while he does bath and stories. From 5:30-7 he is 100% with the kids. It's definitely possible. Her husband needs to pitch in more.
that’s great but not the case for all partners (and what about all the years trying to make partner?) Especially if there are clients in different time zones. And sorry, it still sounds miserable that the only family time is 1.5 hrs every night while you clean then he gets back on the phone. Miserable life, prioritizing money over all else.
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:OP, it sounds to me that at this point in time, your kids are getting as much of your time as parents who work more of a 9-5 schedule are able to give their kids. The problem is that as your kids get older, they will go to bed later, and it is going to be really hard to get in an extra 3 hours of work after they go to bed. Then add in all of the activities that your kids will likely end up doing and things will get even more hectic.
Are you happy? It sounds like you get no down time at all. I would keep looking for job opportunities with the federal government. As a PP noted, these years go by so fast. At the end of the day, I don't think you would look back and regret finding a less stressful job. Good luck. I know it's really hard finding the right balance.
Her hours won’t be that much better with the government. And the pay will be lower. And she might have less flexibility in her hours. It is driving me crazy that everyone is focusing on OP working less when her husband barely sees his children during the week and she sees them several hours a day!
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:This is OP again. I want to clear up the notion that I only spend 30 mins per day with my kids which is not at all true. They are up by 7am latest and we spend an hour an a half together until I drop the older one at school at 8:30 and our nanny arrives. I stop working at 5:30pm so I think have another 2 hours with my youngest who goes to bed at 7:30pm, and my oldest who goes to bed at 8 gets 2.5 hours. Where I struggle is that I then need to handle everything else too - cooking, clean up, laundry, schedules, projects, etc. And I choose to stop working at 5:30 and then go back online later most nights so I can spend the time with my kids.
I am genuinely curious - are there moms who work full time and get to spend more time with their kids than this? Even if you work 9-5 with commuting it’s probably about the same I would imagine.
We also don’t work for what would be considered biglaw firms (although my firm is bigger than DH’s). DH is already a partner and makes around $500K per year all in. He has even more earning potential with his recent promotion but isn’t there yet. I make around $250K and made it clear I don’t want to be on partner track because those attorneys work much more than I do.
We also don’t live an overly extravagant lifestyle at all. DH went to private school and is not open to public regardless of how good it is. That’s the only think that would make a reasonable different in our expenditures. So when you add that up, plus FT nanny, summer camp and classes, our families both lives across the country so 2X per year flights, one vacation per year, etc... it really doesn’t go as far as it should. We also save quite a bit as we want to make sure college and possible grad school are covered for our kids.
OP you are effing ridiculous. You make $750k/year and “it doesn’t go as far as it should”?! Wtf. You are LOADED and completely out of touch. I can’t even.
It sounds like you don't live a life similar to OP's. That's ok, but you don't have to act like it's completely unreasonable that OP's expenses are what they are. $750K/year is about $375K/year take home. Being in that tax bracket means you get hit with the highest rates and don't have the benefits of the truly rich (i.e. people living off interest or dividends), since it's all salary.
Nanny is probably $75K given that she's working 45 hours per week, which means 5 hours of overtime, which is 1.5 times normal rates. $25/hour times 40 hours/week is $52K. $37.50/hour (overtime) times 5 hours/week is $9,750, which is $61,750. Then you have to add in the employer's share of Medicare and SS on to that, plus bonus, gifts, etc.
Private school tuition for two is $125K, which would be $55K per kid plus donations, teacher's gifts, etc.
Mortgage is probably at least $75K a year.
So now we're at $275K/year on $375K take home salary. It's not a stretch to assume that 401k contributions plus 529 contributions take up another maybe $75K, plus two car payments totaling $20K a year, and you've practically eaten up the salary. Never mind clothes, country club memberships, sports, vacations, etc.
I'm not saying that's the way anyone should want to live, or even that it makes good financial sense, but it's not completely ludicrous to imagine the lifestyle OP is leading.
“never mind the country club fees”![]()
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:This is OP again. I want to clear up the notion that I only spend 30 mins per day with my kids which is not at all true. They are up by 7am latest and we spend an hour an a half together until I drop the older one at school at 8:30 and our nanny arrives. I stop working at 5:30pm so I think have another 2 hours with my youngest who goes to bed at 7:30pm, and my oldest who goes to bed at 8 gets 2.5 hours. Where I struggle is that I then need to handle everything else too - cooking, clean up, laundry, schedules, projects, etc. And I choose to stop working at 5:30 and then go back online later most nights so I can spend the time with my kids.
I am genuinely curious - are there moms who work full time and get to spend more time with their kids than this? Even if you work 9-5 with commuting it’s probably about the same I would imagine.
We also don’t work for what would be considered biglaw firms (although my firm is bigger than DH’s). DH is already a partner and makes around $500K per year all in. He has even more earning potential with his recent promotion but isn’t there yet. I make around $250K and made it clear I don’t want to be on partner track because those attorneys work much more than I do.
We also don’t live an overly extravagant lifestyle at all. DH went to private school and is not open to public regardless of how good it is. That’s the only think that would make a reasonable different in our expenditures. So when you add that up, plus FT nanny, summer camp and classes, our families both lives across the country so 2X per year flights, one vacation per year, etc... it really doesn’t go as far as it should. We also save quite a bit as we want to make sure college and possible grad school are covered for our kids.
OP you are effing ridiculous. You make $750k/year and “it doesn’t go as far as it should”?! Wtf. You are LOADED and completely out of touch. I can’t even.
It sounds like you don't live a life similar to OP's. That's ok, but you don't have to act like it's completely unreasonable that OP's expenses are what they are. $750K/year is about $375K/year take home. Being in that tax bracket means you get hit with the highest rates and don't have the benefits of the truly rich (i.e. people living off interest or dividends), since it's all salary.
Nanny is probably $75K given that she's working 45 hours per week, which means 5 hours of overtime, which is 1.5 times normal rates. $25/hour times 40 hours/week is $52K. $37.50/hour (overtime) times 5 hours/week is $9,750, which is $61,750. Then you have to add in the employer's share of Medicare and SS on to that, plus bonus, gifts, etc.
Private school tuition for two is $125K, which would be $55K per kid plus donations, teacher's gifts, etc.
Mortgage is probably at least $75K a year.
So now we're at $275K/year on $375K take home salary. It's not a stretch to assume that 401k contributions plus 529 contributions take up another maybe $75K, plus two car payments totaling $20K a year, and you've practically eaten up the salary. Never mind clothes, country club memberships, sports, vacations, etc.
I'm not saying that's the way anyone should want to live, or even that it makes good financial sense, but it's not completely ludicrous to imagine the lifestyle OP is leading.
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:OP, it sounds to me that at this point in time, your kids are getting as much of your time as parents who work more of a 9-5 schedule are able to give their kids. The problem is that as your kids get older, they will go to bed later, and it is going to be really hard to get in an extra 3 hours of work after they go to bed. Then add in all of the activities that your kids will likely end up doing and things will get even more hectic.
Are you happy? It sounds like you get no down time at all. I would keep looking for job opportunities with the federal government. As a PP noted, these years go by so fast. At the end of the day, I don't think you would look back and regret finding a less stressful job. Good luck. I know it's really hard finding the right balance.
Her hours won’t be that much better with the government. And the pay will be lower. And she might have less flexibility in her hours. It is driving me crazy that everyone is focusing on OP working less when her husband barely sees his children during the week and she sees them several hours a day!
there are plenty of government jobs that are 9-5. OP can only make decisions for herself. Her DH is high earner who wants to spend his money and she’s not going to change him.
That’s bullshit. They’re his kids too.
Do you actually think Mr “My kids can only go to private school” is going to downshift? He’s not. OP needs to face it - she has a sucky job for parenting, with or without a more participatory DH. Even if she gets her DH to get off the phone for an odd hour every evening, that’s not going to change the material conditions of her life. Because her demands make no sense as a matter of physics - you can’t have two high-stress jobs, be unwilling to earn less than 750k, and also refuse to get an au pair, and expect to have any semblance of comfort at home.
Sorry but why blame DH for the kids in private school. OP could very well say no. I imagine she's the one who completed those private school apps. If she wanted kids in public, she could make it happen. If she wanted to hire more help, she could make it happen.
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:I’m so irritated that everyone keeps blaming op for her job. She has reasonable hours and good salary for Law. She doesn’t need to mommy track anymore than she already has.
The problem is that her husband is working crazy hours. He needs to take more of a break in the evenings and help out more. OP is not the problem. And they need tips for how to outsource more. That’s really what Op was asking. She does not need to mommy track more.
no, it is her job because she’s the one complaining. her husband, correctly, thinks that since they earn 750k HHI he doesn’t need to come home for dinner. Someone else will handle it. That person can be OP or it can be a housekeeper or au pair. Very, very few people earning 500k are going to drop everything to do dishes and bedtime from 6-9 every night. Her choice. Leaving aside her DH, I think any job that makes you regularly work several hours after your young kids’ bedtime is unsustainable.
That is BS - my sister makes $800K-$1 million a year and is still the primary parent for her kids. She makes breakfasts, makes lunches, has done school for her kids during the pandemic and puts them to bed every night. When she is traveling her husband can also do this (and does help a ton) but just because you make a lot of money doesn't mean you get to abdicate your job as a parent. My husband makes $500K a year and still helps every morning and every night with the kids.
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:OP, it sounds to me that at this point in time, your kids are getting as much of your time as parents who work more of a 9-5 schedule are able to give their kids. The problem is that as your kids get older, they will go to bed later, and it is going to be really hard to get in an extra 3 hours of work after they go to bed. Then add in all of the activities that your kids will likely end up doing and things will get even more hectic.
Are you happy? It sounds like you get no down time at all. I would keep looking for job opportunities with the federal government. As a PP noted, these years go by so fast. At the end of the day, I don't think you would look back and regret finding a less stressful job. Good luck. I know it's really hard finding the right balance.
Her hours won’t be that much better with the government. And the pay will be lower. And she might have less flexibility in her hours. It is driving me crazy that everyone is focusing on OP working less when her husband barely sees his children during the week and she sees them several hours a day!
there are plenty of government jobs that are 9-5. OP can only make decisions for herself. Her DH is high earner who wants to spend his money and she’s not going to change him.
That’s bullshit. They’re his kids too.
Do you actually think Mr “My kids can only go to private school” is going to downshift? He’s not. OP needs to face it - she has a sucky job for parenting, with or without a more participatory DH. Even if she gets her DH to get off the phone for an odd hour every evening, that’s not going to change the material conditions of her life. Because her demands make no sense as a matter of physics - you can’t have two high-stress jobs, be unwilling to earn less than 750k, and also refuse to get an au pair, and expect to have any semblance of comfort at home.
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:I’m so irritated that everyone keeps blaming op for her job. She has reasonable hours and good salary for Law. She doesn’t need to mommy track anymore than she already has.
The problem is that her husband is working crazy hours. He needs to take more of a break in the evenings and help out more. OP is not the problem. And they need tips for how to outsource more. That’s really what Op was asking. She does not need to mommy track more.
no, it is her job because she’s the one complaining. her husband, correctly, thinks that since they earn 750k HHI he doesn’t need to come home for dinner. Someone else will handle it. That person can be OP or it can be a housekeeper or au pair. Very, very few people earning 500k are going to drop everything to do dishes and bedtime from 6-9 every night. Her choice. Leaving aside her DH, I think any job that makes you regularly work several hours after your young kids’ bedtime is unsustainable.
Wife of the big law partner here: my husband does dinner and bedtime with the kids every night. I clean while he does bath and stories. From 5:30-7 he is 100% with the kids. It's definitely possible. Her husband needs to pitch in more.
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:This is OP again. I want to clear up the notion that I only spend 30 mins per day with my kids which is not at all true. They are up by 7am latest and we spend an hour an a half together until I drop the older one at school at 8:30 and our nanny arrives. I stop working at 5:30pm so I think have another 2 hours with my youngest who goes to bed at 7:30pm, and my oldest who goes to bed at 8 gets 2.5 hours. Where I struggle is that I then need to handle everything else too - cooking, clean up, laundry, schedules, projects, etc. And I choose to stop working at 5:30 and then go back online later most nights so I can spend the time with my kids.
I am genuinely curious - are there moms who work full time and get to spend more time with their kids than this? Even if you work 9-5 with commuting it’s probably about the same I would imagine.
We also don’t work for what would be considered biglaw firms (although my firm is bigger than DH’s). DH is already a partner and makes around $500K per year all in. He has even more earning potential with his recent promotion but isn’t there yet. I make around $250K and made it clear I don’t want to be on partner track because those attorneys work much more than I do.
We also don’t live an overly extravagant lifestyle at all. DH went to private school and is not open to public regardless of how good it is. That’s the only think that would make a reasonable different in our expenditures. So when you add that up, plus FT nanny, summer camp and classes, our families both lives across the country so 2X per year flights, one vacation per year, etc... it really doesn’t go as far as it should. We also save quite a bit as we want to make sure college and possible grad school are covered for our kids.
OP you are effing ridiculous. You make $750k/year and “it doesn’t go as far as it should”?! Wtf. You are LOADED and completely out of touch. I can’t even.
Anonymous wrote:I’m so irritated that everyone keeps blaming op for her job. She has reasonable hours and good salary for Law. She doesn’t need to mommy track anymore than she already has.
The problem is that her husband is working crazy hours. He needs to take more of a break in the evenings and help out more. OP is not the problem. And they need tips for how to outsource more. That’s really what Op was asking. She does not need to mommy track more.
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:I’m so irritated that everyone keeps blaming op for her job. She has reasonable hours and good salary for Law. She doesn’t need to mommy track anymore than she already has.
The problem is that her husband is working crazy hours. He needs to take more of a break in the evenings and help out more. OP is not the problem. And they need tips for how to outsource more. That’s really what Op was asking. She does not need to mommy track more.
no, it is her job because she’s the one complaining. her husband, correctly, thinks that since they earn 750k HHI he doesn’t need to come home for dinner. Someone else will handle it. That person can be OP or it can be a housekeeper or au pair. Very, very few people earning 500k are going to drop everything to do dishes and bedtime from 6-9 every night. Her choice. Leaving aside her DH, I think any job that makes you regularly work several hours after your young kids’ bedtime is unsustainable.
Anonymous wrote:OP that’s a miserable life for you. I mean really wtf. To answer your question- yes, plenty of parents have 9-5ish legal jobs and don’t have to log on after the kids go to bed. Get a different job.