to think that the further you are from the world of work, the crazier being a working mum sounds?

[StripeyBear]

I did it for 3 years - motherhood and a (part-time, but) demanding job... when you were always running from pillar to post, and buying take-away pizza, and feeling guilty because your child was crying when you left, and always being tired and hassled and answering your blackberry on your days "off" and being f**ked off because your job wasn't half as interesting as the work you used to get when you were childless and in the office full-time-plus....

Almost 2 years of being a SAHM later, my working-mother-friends come round for coffee on their day off and moan about all of the above.. It sounds familiar, but now even their moaning exhausts me. I'm more in a swapping recipes for lemon-drizzle-cake and making my own pizza dough sort of head space. These days I just potter around - my whole life has slowed down.....

Don't get me wrong - I realise I'm fortunate that we can manage without the wage (and not everyone can), but I find I am barely worse off (once the childcare is taken into account, and it is so much easier to spend money wisely, now that I don't have to buy crappy pizza because I am too exhausted to cook or book my holiday at the last minute because I wasn't organised earlier). And life feels so much better now that I'm not always exhausted... and I actually have time to do interesting stuff like read (grown-up) books... and there is no stress around childcare and the like....

So when my friends come round and moan about their blackberries ringing and being side-lined for promotions and feeling stressed about organising a child's birthday party when they have no time to really do it and so on.... instead of feeling oodles of sympathy... all I can think is... WHY? WHY? Why are you doing it then?

AIBU? I sort of suspect I might be

DH and I are reeling

Do you have special lessons for that?

You're losing your grip a bit now OP, you need to go back to littering your posts with lots of 's.

As I was saying to the queen only last week 'it's so hard being a working mum.' Our playdate mum friend Angelina took a rice cake for her many children and nodded solemnly. Her lemon drizzle output has taken a right downturn since she and Brad started working on their latest film and her Madge was in a right state about her lack of time to get a really good prove on her pizza dough. I, however only work part time and made banana pancakes last weekend so they all bowed down and worshipped me in my magnificence as being the bestest mum!

That actually really happened, no word of a lie.

I don't need to work - I want to it's great

Cat if you're paying £50 a day for nursery care then you need to look at the hourly rate - £5 an hour... am really surprised you won't leave your 14 month old with your husband, or am I mixing you up with another poster? Small babies don't need nursery care. Why not keep him at home and find a playgroup when he's 2? But up to you, of course.

Let me break this down...

1. He's there 7 hours, so it's £7.14 an hour. Not £5

1. I do. On Fridays. But he's a bit feckless and he doesn't have a sandpit.

1. I doubt it. Catgirl is unique.

1. No, he doesn't need it. He loves it.

1. He likes it. Has a great time.

1. Yup. It is.

Are you actually a bit skint, OP? Is that what this is all about?

Oh PS

I went back to work PT when DS was 1 month old and FT when he was 4 months old. Which is when he started nursery.

If you are interested, the answer to "why did you bother having a child?" is this:

Have you seen the cute little outfits you can get?

Have you?

ratios - aged 2 - 4 children per adult - so that is actually £28 an hour - not £5

yes and you can cut their hair and buy them shoes and make them fetch you things - I have trained one of mine to make me tea - very useful things children

You mentioned Coatbridge - I live in Edinburgh, I have friends who live towards Glasgow and Stirling, the rate for everyone's cleaner is £10-12.50 an hour.

Oh yes, the fetchy stage is terribly useful.

And if I get bored of him, he's quite cute so I can just sell him on eBay to some foreigners.

I make my children dance for me

Yes I'm the crazy one for paying the entrepreneur who set up her own business and cleans my house £12.50 an hour when I could get a poor agency worker to scrub for a pittance.

I do only go to work to pay for my cleaner, shoes and handbags. Like what all us working mums do.

Yeah they are a pain in the arse for a bit but when you can send them over the shops with a note for 20 bensons it all becomes worthwhile.

I mean you just cant trust the cat he loses them.

Stripey have you been on the sauce this evening?

OP you have lost the plot. Eat cake and behave.