dreding going back to work

[annien]

i really don't know what to do i am not due to go back to work till feb but am already worrying about it. I have three children all under the age of three so as you can imaginge it is hard work. I don't really want to go back to work but with the current house market can't see how i will be able to stay at home. Any sujestions?

What is your main worry about going back to work?

• emotional?
• practical?
• financial?

How does the housing market make it imperative for you to work, anyway? It doesn't change your monthly outgoings, does it?

God yes I am dreading it. My employers are a particularly aggressive investment bank, and I'm the primary earner so I have no choice really. Casting my net around for something else, but with the Credit Crunch there's sod all out there at my level right now, and I can't afford a drop in income.

Seriously anxious and depressed about it really

How pathetic is it that I'm pinning all my hopes on a lotto win?

Well the odds for getting a nicer job are better than winning the lottery! It's crap if you're not enjoying your career - but tbh that's true whether you have kids or not. Keep looking for something else. Downsize as much as you can to widen your choice of jobs, if you really can't face going back at your level. And then just bite the bullet and get on with it! The reality won't be as bad as thinking about it.

i didnt want to go back either but couldnt afford not to. so i told myself it was just for three months and then i'd look at it again and if i really hated it as much as i thought, i'd resign. helps not to think that an entire life of misery stretches ahead of you - you can cope with anything for three months. and then you'll probably find (as i did) after three months that it's really not as bad as you thought, and you quite like having some time to yourself (not how i'd have described my lunatic job before i had ds, but oddly how it feels now), and be able to carry on. and if you're not, well you can look for another job. or resign and live on gruel.
also february is a loooong way away, try not to ruin your mat leave worrying about what's the other end of it. just enjoy what you've got for now.
has it been a long time since you've worked? are you going back to a job you know and liked before, or something new? if it's been ages and it's all uncertain, no wonder you feel anxious about it.