full time mom goes to work full time

[Jleu22]

sub title for this journal entry should be... stay at home mom goes to work.

A year ago I was a full time stay at home mom. Staying at home had it's good points but it also had it's bad ones. Good poins : I was available any time my kids needed me. I was able to spend lots of time with them. We did fun things together and had even more fun when daddy had a day off too. Everything got done that needed to at our house. I always found time to do laundry, cook dinner , clean house in general.

Bad points : We didn't really have enough money to do the things we really wanted to do. we were struggeling to pay bills because my husband was working a minimum wage job with a ever changing schedual so it was hard to plan anything.I was bored when my daughter was in pre school and my baby boy was taking a nap. We tried a mlm to make aditional money but just didn't have the resources to be successful at it.....

During Christmas time I had worked a seasonal part time job at a call center for Harry and David. I really enjoyed it. my apperance didn't matter ( i have a low self esteem) and i was able to help people and get money for sitting at a computer, which really isn't that hard to do.It wasn't a lot of money. I made about $9 an hour and it really helped out with getting christmas presents. The big gossip during breaks was the construction going on down stairs. It was rumored that Enterprise, the car rental agency was going to open a year round call center. They were going to pay 10.25 an hour...which at the time made me perk up my ears. I lost nights of sleep thinking about it. What if I got a job there and just worked part time ....it would help out a lot but at what cost?

I decided to take the risk after talking it over with my husband. Out of 300 applicants I was one of a hundred who was actually chosen for the openings. It was really hard at first my son would throw massive crying fits when ever I would drop him off at my cousin in laws house and my daughter started acting out in school,  giving the teachers attitude and not following the rules. But as the checks started rolling in and we adjusted to having money things eventually got easier. So I started thinking again. If I decided  to go full time we would have even more money (making more then my husband) and i would be able to get medical insurance for all of us at a decent cost.

In June I took the plunge and went full time.As it was with being a full time stay at home mom it has it's good points and it's bad. Good points I now have more then enough money to take care of the bills and get my kids things they want and need. I get time away from the boardum that I had staying home. I am making friends and have set days off so that i can plan things to do with the kids. Bad points... If some thing happens it is kind of hard to get out of work to be there for them. I miss being around them all the time and now I only have one day out of the week that I can clean house...i get so tired that sometime I don't even clean it that often....

So what have I learned from this? Money isn't everything ofcourse but it feels so much better to not worry and struggle with the bills. I am all for moms staying home...if your husband has a good enough job to support you. Other wise in these days and age it is just way to hard for one person on a minimum wage job to take care of a family without assistance.