New job or make do?

[SpiderDan]

Hi everyone, This is going to be a little long-winded so I apologise for it now!

1 year ago, I paid to get myself through the HGV class 2 tests as it was something I've wanted to be able to do since I was 18 or so. Got a job with a decent firm working 5/6 days a week from 6.30am till finish which is usually no later than 6pm. Then there's 20 minutes there and 20 back. It's a decent firm like I say but the pay isn't great!

Before the driving job, I was working on a farm for 2.5 years. This was hard work, working from 2.30am till 6ph(ish) BUT I only did 2/3 full days work and pretty much had the rest of the week off working alternate weekends. The pay was slightly less than what I'm getting now but was achievable in half the time.

My wife is 8 weeks pregnant and I've already got my head set on being around for the child as much as possible. My own father was a no-show so I want to prove the family name wrong. We aren't all morons ;)

My dilema is......do I stay in the job I'm in where I could be driving 60 miles out(lancaster to waberthwaite) and am out all day long, spending only 2 hours a day with family(as it is now with mrs) or do I change job and go back into farming, which truth be told I enjoyed more, work more hours over a shorter period and spend more time with family?

I can't decide whats better. I understand the concerns of people saying too much job changing and the likes but driving was a personal challenge, which has been completed succesfully and I'm not a great fan of sitting on ones arse all day every day, where as, the farming is harder work, more unpredictable in regards to hours or do I just tell my current boss that I want to work less days in the week where the pay which will drop drastically(it's hard enough going in early and getting back late to waste time just to up the pennies)........

Tell me what you think please.......

Thank you !

The thing is if you stay in the driving job, then the way it looks is:

1. less pay
2. still doing a job you don't like

If you go back to farming it looks as if:

1. you enjoy the work more even though it's harder and the hours more unpredictable.
2. More time with your new family.

From the outside looking in, it would seem that the farm job is the better option. Have you talked it over with your wife? What does she think?

Yes I have talked it over with her. Firstly she wants to go back to work when she can after the birth and as she milks sheep, she can take the baby with her, but I want to spend time at home with it, so my thinking is that if I work half week, she can work half week without having to worry about baby.

Wifey doesn't disagree with the idea of changing jobs BUT is worried that I wont be awake enough to look after baby and her for the half week that I'd be working as I used to be soooooooooooo very tired due to early starts and long days.

This is the toss up now, farming for half week means she is pretty much on her own, but driving means 2 hours a day till weekend.......

aaaah, not sure what to do :(

Whilst the farm work soinds better it will mean your wife cant even have an hours break for three days straight and obv no chance you can help at night.
Also she is likely to want to take the baby to work esp in the early days and more so if she breast feeds.
Id stay where you are and think about taking parental leave after a few months if you can afford it.

Do you have any family/friends nearby, who could help out, if you did go back to farm work?

if you are absolutely dead on your feet when you've finished work, then that is a real concern. You'd have more time with the family in theory, but if you are too shattered to do anything other than walk through the door and collapse into bed, then maybe it's not the bonus it seems.

What a dilemma.

A lot of people are changing jobs frequently because they're on temporary contracts.

A good employer would be sympathetic to the fact that you've tried something different, found you weren't happy and decided to go back to what you knew you liked. He would want to be certain you're prepared to cope with the hours, so make sure you and your wife have sorted family arrangements out beforehand.

Write down the pros and cons of the two jobs then decide where you'll be happiest.