Any SAHM with all kids at school?

[blackandwhitecat]

Just interested in what you do all day and whether your dp/dh gives you a hard time.

I'm not a SAHM but I've been suprised recently by at least three mums,who have children in my DS's class at school(year2),who have given up work to be SAHM.In each case their youngest is my DS's age(6/7yo),each have two children with the other being older,so have all their children in school.

I've spoken to these women and all commented that,they just got fed up of rushing around all the time and trying to juggle, childcare,work,homework,childrens hobbies in evenings,etc.
Personally,I think there is enough to be doing in the house(at least there is in mine),and running around after the children to make it a full time job.It proberbly makes for a far more relaxed and calm home life,for the whole family,especially the DH,if the wife choses to be a SAHM.
I know if we could afford for me not to work(I work 3 days),DH would love to have me at home.I would also love to be a SAHM.
We have twin DSs 7yo and I have a stepDD 11yo,I do all the housework,laundry,gardening,DIY,etc,as I only work 3 days I'm not rushing as much as if I was F/T,but I'm still kept pretty busy,I'd love to have more time to do things.

After all,being a wife and mother used to be a full time job,till women all got taken in by the bloody womens libers!!!

I work full time, but I loads loads of people like this. You see nurseries stay open 51 weeks a year, until 6pm, BUT SCHOOL DOESN'T It is actually harder to work and get childcare with school aged kids.

If I could I would give up work, but I am the main breadwinner, so it isn't an option (nor is going P/T before anyone comments) If I could earn £30k P/T I would

Jac34 you sound like you might be one of the better 'types' of stay at home mums though?

We have a few at school that are very wealthy and are sahm and I don't think their kids benefit at all. On the whole they spend all their timw shopping or lunching in their little cliques and the kids are just shoved into the 4x4's ,d riven home and plonked in front of the tv. A couple of the boys are friends with my ds and where amazed when they came to our house and I said they had to make their own tea (I had made pizza bases and had left out all the things for them to cut up and put as toppings) both commented that they had never cooked with their mums!

After learning a little more from the boys whilst they were here I was told by one of the mothers that she thought I must be mad to want other kids to the house as she got really annoyed when her own kids got the house untidy after the cleaners had been let alone someone else child doing it!!

I work from home for three days but my daughter is at a childminder 9-3 for two days, so the extra day I juggle around her sleeps and ds's holidays from school etc. BUT i still find time to cook/do playdough/painting etc.

What I do know from the grapevine is that one of the sahm has been told by her husband that he's had enough and she is only allowed help on 3 days a week now and isn't allowed a credit card on a Friday!!! She was outraged!!!

Hi neena,
I'm not actually a SAHM,as I said in my post I work 3 days a week,but would love to be

I'm almost a SAHM - only work 11 hours, term time only and some of that I do from home. My children are all in secondary school.

Dh has a moan occasionally but TBH I would struggle to work longer hours as dd has a pretty poor attendance at school due to medical problems plus lots of appointments.

As mine have got older I've worked less and less. I initailly went back full-time until I had ds2, packed in completely for a while after dd. I've found that when they we're very small it wasn't a problem to find care for them. Littlies are generally happy as long as they have plenty to occupy them and are well fed . The trouble starts when them get to around 8 and older and they don't want to go to the childminder or grandmas everyday - they often start to prefer their own surroundings, add in after school stuff and it starts to cause stress. Plus school hols are a huge problem.

Might make it back to full-time when they're at uni - will probably have to to keep up financially

Didn't make my self very clear...I meant it sounded like if you were a sahm you would be a fab one rather than imo a time waster one!!

I am. I MN most of the day inbetween fits of tidying up and going shopping for dribs and drabs.
Dp said I did nothing even when I was working with a toddler and one at school so I couldnt give a shit what he says.
I look after the kids. Thats my job

Interesting. I can see how looking after kids is full-time work but not house-keeping (unless you're looking after an estate or you're doing other peoples and being paid for it). Why can't you all take responsibility for house-keeping as a family after work and school?

I can see how it would be nice to be a SAHM with school-aged kids (as long as you had enough money to fit some enjoyable things into each day as well as just cleaning) but I would find it hard to see it as necessary or particularly rewarding. Take your point about school holidays though and can understand why you might not want to send young kids to child-minders/ after school clubs.

I think if I was a long-term SAHM I'd worry about my pension, isolation and finding it difficult to get back into the work-force later if I wanted to or it became necessary. I'd also get bored. Just how I would feel though not knocking anyone else's choice.

I would love to give up work and be a SAHM now my kids will both be going to school.
It would be bliss, 6 hours to call my own 5 days a week. I'd have a ball! I can clean my house in 2.5 hours & do the ironing for the week in another 2 hours so that would give me 25.5 hours all for me. I am green with envy, wish I could afford to do it!!!!

Yep I am. I have no choice as have a dd with sn who goes to one school and ds goes to another.

Have to get 2 chidren to 2 different schools and what with all the meetings and inset days I really cannot find a job that fits!

Dh doesn't give me a hard time as he knows that is how it has to be for us.

I am a SAHM but yes i do have 2 kids at the moment that will be home for the next 4 years yet BUT if there were at school & we did have more than enough money so i did have to work then No maybe i wouldnt, not sure really but i am quite a home body love being at home, loving doing all sorts round the house & love cleaning & keeping my house nice (sad i know) but each to there own.

I dont think i could stay home forever though i probably would get a little job for a few hrs a week, for my own extra pocket money & to get me out of the house i suppose. Who knows only time will tell

yep thats me. I,m a sahm and my youngest kid is in year 8.

what do I do all day? whatever i want , whenever i want !

No dh doesnt give me any hassle about it. Why would he ? He sees it as a payoff for all the very hard work I did when the kids were little and him going out to work was the easy option

i am too. i seem to spend most of my time cleaning and cooking and walking to and from the school.
i clean for someone on a tuesday morning.
it sounds like loads of time, but it whizzes by mostly.
if i did go to work then i would have to have a cleaner i think because dh does nothing in the house at all.
actually sometimes i wish i had a job but then i would be stuck for childcare in the holidays. in fact, yes, i would rather work during the summer holidays, it's easier!

i am. dd is 11 and ds 14
dh doesn't give me a hard time as dd is sn and we have no cover for sickness/holidays.

I am apart from a very occasional few hours doing a bit of admin on a hourly basis from home (maybe 6-8 hours a month). DDs are 14 and 9. Elder one has always been ill a lot and even now there are times I wouldn't want to leave her. DD2 has SN and that seems to have been my "job" the past few years - it has certainly taken over my life. Now things are a bit more stable with regard to this and they are both older I would love to work part time but it's soooo difficult to find something suitable ie. working term time only as we have no cover for hols (or sickness).

All of ours are in school and dh doesn't want me to work. He was my childhood sweetheart but had been apart for twenty something years before getting together again two years ago. He runs his own business so works from home mainly so we get to spend loads of time together every day, it's perfect! Still have to do the mundane stuff like shopping, cleaning but it's great having him around, oh and we also spend a lot of time in bed during the day!!!