Should I Stay (home) or Should I Go (back to work)?

He is seven months old and the internal debate is raging! Once again, I am not here to tell anyone  what to do (shocking I know). I am strictly talking about my own little debate with myself, and the challenges our family faces when trying to come up with a plan that works for everyone in the future! I know so many amazing parents who work long hours and have raised beautiful well adjusted and loved children! I  know first hand the gift and joy of being raised by a stay at home mom! There is  just no one answer to this debate, each family is facing a different challenge!

I had always dreamed of staying home with my children until they were at least in full day school. My mom stayed home with us and I am eternally grateful for her sacrifice! She gave up her career and committed her self to playing with us, teaching us, and introducing us to the this big beautiful world. When I became pregnant shortly after starting a great new job, I started thinking that I might really miss going to work! The seeds of the dilemma were planted!

There are two major things to think of here …
“What  do I want to do?” and of course “What solution can we
afford?” My fellow Type  A’s are probably all shouting at me to make a list (or two, or three…) of my  pros and cons. Believe me I have! I have done list after list after list! The  end result is the same, I want it all!

Is that too much to ask?

I  want to go back to work where I can interact with a variety of
people, where I  can excel doing things that I am really good at and where I can solve problems  with confidence! I also want to be the primary caregiver for our little man.  When we work out the dollars and cents, well, I will not even go there, let’s  just say that child care is beyond expensive but we are not independently  wealthy…

I start to sweat just thinking about how much of his life I will  miss while I am working! We have odd/long hours my husband and
I, so we would  not get to eat dinner with him, or be there for bath time, many nights we would  not even be there to put him to bed!

There is just no easy answer. No  matter what we do there will be a substantial amount of sacrifice and we may  have regrets. When it comes down to it, there is no great answer, not for  us.

What were you willing to sacrifice? How did you make your decision  work for you?

Submitted By: Sarah Sansom

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