Finding part-time employment as stay-at-home parent
Hello families! First time poster here. I’m considering taking the leap to full-time/stay-at-home parent for a few short months, and want to nail down a job by this fall when our son is old enough for a preschool program. I would ideally like to find something with a flexible schedule that will allow me to go back to school. I would appreciate any advice, leads or anecdotes about your experiences switching up your work while juggling kids, expenses, etc.
Thank you for your time!
May 23, 2018
Parent Replies
I would absolutely recommend *not* working a flexible schedule. It sounds great in theory, but in practice I have found flexible schedules/work from home for parents to be a trap of not doing anything well or to completeness, and with more hours spent of trying to get "everything" done, leading to less sleep and more stress.
Set boundaries: Work time is work time, preschool time is preschool time, your school time is your school time. This may mean you are only working three hours a day and taking one class, while your child is at preschool, but you and your child will be better off if both of you are having "free time" at the same time. You will actually have less housework if you spend more time out of the house, so that part of the equation sort of solves itself.
Good luck!!
Wise words! Thank you!
When my kids were babies and toddlers, I worked part-time as a grantwriter with very flexible work-from-home options. Its not for everyone, but it worked for me in that I could be home and present with my kids during the day, had two 4-hour days/week in the office, and did most of the rest of the work from home, late at night, either while the kids were sleeping or when I was woken up for breastfeeding, baby in one arm, typing with the other. I had worked for that boss before I had my kids, so there was an existing relationship that made it much easier to flex, but it really helped to keep my mind occupied, and the money was of course useful as well! Good luck!