in my position of children etc it's not easy to do more than 20 hours a week....but the bonus is I get all the school hols off paid/unpaid...I do one hell of a lot of stuff but don't get paid(for eg. taking and picking up dd from brownies each week, being there when they get in from school, giving them breakfast each morning etc).....so why does my dh make me feel guilty when I am skint and ask him for a little extra (you've already had this off me he says....thing is if the children weren't looked after by me each morning/afternoon it would cost him and we mums do so much....when are fathers going ot recognise that just because we don't earn £40,000 a year and have degrees from Oxford that we're not in fact doing nothing but trying our best(btw dh has had far more days off than me this last 6 months...I've had days without children 2...he's had 12+) sorry but wanted to say something for all those sahm who feel that somwtimes you feel underappreciated..