Mad to go part time in the current climate?

[chocolatestar]

I am a full time secondary teacher and had been feeling very stressed and demoralised by my job. At Easter my dad passed away very suddenly and this has made me think about making changes to my life.

I am now pregnant with dc2 (ds is 2.8) and am thinking of going part time after the baby is born. I am the main earner though and dh is self emloyed so no guarentee of work although he is busy just now. I am also seriously considering home education when the time comes as working in schools has really put me of them. Because of this I only want to do 2 days a week so I can be at home the rest of the time, dh will do the other days.

I feel ok about having a lot less money which we will, I will have to be less materialistic which is no bad thing but I would hate to put the family in some kind of crisis if dh suddenly did not get work.

In general I feel very emtional right now and I am scared of making a bad decision.

Sorry for your loss.

It would only be mad if you and DH could not manage as a family if DH was out of work. Could you still pay accommodation, bills and food if you only work 2 days a week? If so, fine. If not, then I think would need to consider moving home first - if you want to home educate anyway then you have a wider choice of cheaper areas than families who need to live near schools.

But it does sound like you need some time to grieve and counselling might be more helpful than a life change at the moment. If DC1 is 2.8 you have a while to make any decisions before you need to tie yourself to a particular method of education.

So I suppose I am saying why not get some counselling now, rest up over the summer holidays and see how you feel in .

September (gah. can't type, sorry)

Yes that makes sense, I have felt calmer since we decided I would go part time and DH is happier too. I guess we need to really look at the finances. I will have to decide about the part time quite soon to tell work. I really want more time with my family. Need to do the maths for the worst case scenario, fingers crossed we can survive!

There is no such thing as a wrong decision. Do it and if you find you are struggling financially you can always go back to full time. Nothing is set in stone.

You also need to follow your feelings. The fact that you are feeling calmer since deciding to go part-time is validation that you are doing the right thing if you ask me.

I chucked my job a short while ago. It has been pretty horrendous since the start of the year. I've had some time off to get things sorted and am now working out what to do next. I feel fantastic tbh. I'm currently looking at different options and thinking I may also go part-time. I've seen a couple of jobs today that fit the bill. If and when that stops working I will do something else.

Don't worry, you will be fine!