Working mums

[Spray 2 Go]

Being at work when you have little kids is not easy, how do you go about selecting suitable childcare? How much does it cost and is it worth it?

There are lots of Geek mums on here running business, working full time, part time, I am amazed sometimes how we manage to fit everything in with so few hours in the day!

I have two teenage boys still at home and even these can take up lots of time with running about which is a fraction to what I used to do with them when they were little.

What do you feel is a good balance between time spent at work / with kids / time for hubby / geeking? Do you feel guilty for working so much? Do the the kids miss out on parents being at work for long hours?

Mandy x

 

[dee]

luckily my hubby works till 3 in the afternoon so i go to work from 3 onwards , or whens he has his 4 days off i work whatever time the client wants me , so far its worked ok , but then again i aint overrun with clients :lol: if needed i can get his mum to look after the kids , i just hope as i get busier it continues to work aswell as it does now

 

[Snugglepuss]

As many of you know I have 5 boys - 3 from my first marriage and 2 to with my 2nd husband.

When the 3 older boys were small, I started by taking jobs which fit in around my ex husband - so for example I worked in a pub behind the bar, did silver service waiteressing and cleaned a pub. So payment for childcare was not an issue!

As they got older, I went to work at Bradford and Bingley full time. I had an agreement with a neighbour and friend that we would share the child care and this worked out quite well.

By the time that I had met and married my 2nd husband, I was earning a good wage at the Bradford and Bingley and because I/we were so much better off financially, when we had Sam, I was able to give up work altogether!

However, if I had had to go back to work, I would have had to pay approx £600 a month for Sam to be looked after by a Nursery(this was 8 years ago, so I'm sure prices will have gone up). Which would be 25% of my wage! Then George came along and even though you paid slightly less for a second child at the same place I would have been paying going on 50% of my wage for them to be looked after!

So now, the 3 biguns are all at work and the 2 littleuns are at fulltime school. I have a job at school - which ensures that I will continue to pay into a pension scheme and I run my salon from home or mobile - dependant on my client.

I have considered working in/buying a salon, but feel for the time being this scenario works better. Once the littleuns are older and I don't have to worry about the cost of childcare, then I will be moving into the salon setting!

HTHs

 

[ladybgemini]

I have a 2 yr old at home with my and tend to try and take evening appointments or weekends when hubby is home. Most of my regulars are quite happy to come along in the daytime and daughter just trolls around the house while I work. She has never done anything really bad (apart from paint the cream wall on the stairs with black handprints).

I did have a really good neighbour, I did her nails and she looked after elizabeth whenever I had a client but she has moved to London so now I have to muddle through until Elizabeth starts nursery inSeptember.

 

[pure]

I'm very fortunate that whilst my children are young my husband supports us enough so that I do not need to work. However, once I am qualified (very soon!) I will only work when the kids are either in school/playgroup, with their dad or my mum. I know that there are many mums who are not nearly so fortunate and I know I am lucky, but I also don't think I could bring myself to pay someone else to look after my children anyway.

 

[*Garfield*]

I have 4 kids, 3 at primary school and a baby who is 18 months. My youngest goes to nursery 3 full days a week. I have a home based salon which is getting increasingly busy. My hubby has a 9-5 job so he looks after them in an evening for my later appts and Saturdays, and I dont work the 2 days that my little ones at home. I find it very stressful at times, as I never seem to have a minute to myself, but I wouldnt change it for the world as I love my job and woulnt want to do anything else. :Love:

 

[chantell simone]

well i work 4 and a half days a week and go to college on a friday afternoon

i do clients at home but i have set times for appointments

my daughters dad works 7am till 4pm so he can pick her up from school or entertain her in the evening if i need him too

i do feel guilty sometimes but i know my little girl is very happy and so am i as i am doing something i love

 

[CadenceAlex]

I work 3 full days a week whilst my babies are in childcare.

My husband works shifts so he is either with me all morning until 2pm and the following week he is with me from 2pm onwards, so we both share looking after the children.

We have just bought a membership to Chester Zoo also, which gets us free entry into lots of Zoos and also the Blue Planet Aquarium so it's nice to go there at weekends.

On a Tuesday morning a lady comes for 3 hours to help me take the children out so we do stuff like feed the ducks, go to the park or into the woods and she will push the twin pram or hold Cadence on her reigns, and on a Thursday there is a new Mums and Tots group locally. It benefits Cadence to mix with other children as she is most definitely an outdoor child!

I could not imagine being a single parent though.. hats off to single mums!!! As much of a pain as my hubby can be at times... he's brilliant when I think of what he does do..

 

[estherlou]

i've got three little ones, 4, 2 and 6 months, at the moment i do mobile clients in the morning when the girls are at school and playgroup and little oscar goes to one of his grannies or my best mate who's also godmum to my middle daughter, as of 10th april my treatment rooms open full time. My hubby has quit his 9-5 and will look after the children. On top of that to make sure we still have a regular income and to give the salon a good chance to get off the ground he's going to work evenings as well, i'm a very, very lucky lady and couldn't have done it without him x

 

[blossom]

My girls are 7 & 9 and both at junior school. I am available for work during the school hours, with my last appointment being 2pm. Then I wear the mum hat for a few hours and then offer an evening slot which suits clients who work themselves. I get fed up working evenings when it's night after night. But I guess if i want to fit round the kids and be there after school etc (plus I try not to work weekends) then somethings has to give. And there's nothing on the telly anyway . . . :lol:

 

[emma m]

My boys are 6&7, i only work school hours and get term time off but one of my classes is 6-9 so on that evening I just take the kids to my mums for 30mins until my hubby gets home from work. This is one of the many benefits from working as a college tutor as well as the fact that i love my job!:hug:

 

[Gelly]

I work in the evenings and at weekends.
That way I am with the kids until they are in bed and my husband when I get back home. Works fine for us.

 

[Scratchers]

I do find it difficult as my daughter is 3 and i work full time if not more!!
my other half works shifts and sometimes doesn't start until 3pm and we have a great chilminder that has her also but we also have great parents that help us out as well so.

It sounds like i'm just passing her around but she loves the child minder and pre-school as she see's all the other children and i do spend quality time with her in the morning we have breaky together and when i get home we do lots of fun stuff but i don't see my partner very much.... it works tho!!!!

Then i just have to find time to do washing ironing and sleep lol