In my previous post about thinking about… mahhhh-beeee… reluctantly… going back to work, I neglected to address one key issue that makes or breaks this decision. Day care.
Ugh! Day care!
Now I don’t want to get into a whole SAHM-Working Mom, East Coast-West Coast, Coke vs. Pepsi debate over this. Whatever your economic situation or your personal choice, the fact remains someone has to take care of the kids, right?
I don’t have issues with day care, per say… or any child care option with the exception of sweat shops.
We have no family or friends in the area to help out, so nanny, day care, or au pair are pretty much our only options. With the new baby on the way, I couldn’t realistically go back for another full year, but started inquiring about the costs…
I left a really great job to be a SAHM. If I were to go back now, assuming that I would still earn as much as I did when I left, the payoff would still barely cover the cost of two kids in full time care…
Caught between the crippling cost of living in Silicon Valley and the crippling cost of childcare, I’m at a loss for how to make this work. Frankly, I have no idea how anyone does it here.
At least, with me being home, life runs smoothly. There’s a home cooked dinner on the table every night and errands are for weekday mornings, not evenings or weekends.
The floor, as Scout has pointed out, needs some work, but on the whole, our family is much happier than if i went back full-time and out of the house.
Plus, it seems the pay is about the same.
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By the way, I’m totally yanking this from Steph’s blog, The Daily Grind, but at least I’m giving her the credit.
It’s a Washington Post article on child care that she brings to our attention in this post. The article is called, “Who Should Care for This Child?” Check it out!
Since I’m all about the full disclosure tonight, I’d also like to admit that this post is mostly comprised of the comment that I left on her post. The thoughts have been percolating for some time, the words just didn’t come until I read her post and that article…
(Steph, I think it was written for you and me. I hope you hear back from the author.)
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Did you just slip in a pregnancy announcement on us?!?!
.-= mayberry´s last blog ..It’s like school in the summertime! =-.
Wait, your having another baby? How did I miss this??? Or, like mayberry asked, did you just slip up and tell us? Congrats!
.-= Amber´s last blog ..Want It Wednesday – Stacking & Sorting =-.
Sorry Readers… I was making mass changes to my blog over the weekend and this one got re-posted on accident. It’s a way old post from Feb ’09. No new babies here… at least, none that I am aware of. Hmmm…