What Did You Wanna Be When You Grew up and Did You After or Before Kids?

You may lose time with your kids right now, but you have to look forward to the future. If you go back to school and get a teaching degree you will have the entire summer off with the kids and the holidays off as well. So therefor it will be more time with them in the long run.

2nd Q first:

I didn't START school until after my son was 2 months old. My previous 'gainful employment' option was completely closed to me (requires being in warzones on 6month contracts)... and my other options were all minimum wage or just slightly better affairs.

I would have LOST money working until he was in kindergarten(daycare cost more than I would have made). My husband has never been a fan of me being a SAHM, but I swear, you'd think an engineer could do the MATH. Even now (since kindergarten), I'd only clear about $2 an hour after paying for before and afterschool childcare and the bump in taxes. Sorry... $80 a week is not worth me working in a dead end job NOT "climbing a ladder" in MY field (aka a dead end jobby-job worked purely for money and not for advancement). And that's before deducting for gas, work clothes, drycleaning, emergency childcare (for when he's sick), etc. NOT WORTH IT.

So, anyhow, back when (9 years ago)... I started school when he was 2 months old. I got $3k per quarter AFTER my tuition and books were paid for. I got a childcare subsidy (through the school) that PAID for his childcare (I only needed 10 hours a week, being in school) outright, and then PAID for his preschool at 90% (so I could afford to send him to an amazing/killer/awesome preschool I could never have afforded otherwise). Going to school I "made" a thousand dollars a month, instead of LOSING money... and I only had to be gone 10 hours a week!!! I studied during his naps and after bedtime (and later while he was in preschool).

I've had to take a couple years off here and there (first having him all day, and then working half the night due to a major financial crisis... and then we made the decision to buy a house, which meant no school for me for 1-2 years... but the house has SO been worth it, and now I'm back in school).

For ME, going to school is the PERFECT thing. I only have to be gone 10 hours a week. Most of my work is done at home. I make more money going to school than working, and I'll make 5x-10x what I can make now when I graduate. I actually started homeschooling a few years ago. Works GREAT with my being in school (he goes to an "afterschool" daycare, which is when I take my classes. Although, I should note, I have NEVER taken a full load...err... I did once, it was a mistake and was quickly rectified).

Run the numbers.

It may well be that quitting your job and living off of finacial aid/ scholarships&grants/ loans is the better short &/or long term financial plan for your family. (Btw..student loans work differently than any other kind of debt. First off the interest rate about equals inflation which makes it "free" money, secondly they're like a mortgage - you pay them off over DECADES and consolidating them -through the govt.- makes the payments reeeeally low, my husband has 60k in loans and we only pay $80 per month, thirdly "outside agencies" don't consider student loans as normal debt. 100k in student loans translates to about 1k in regular debt, so they don't stop you in buying a home, etc., fourthly they get deferred while you're in school, and deferred if you ever have a gap in employment.).

((NOTE: It takes a WHILE to get school money set up (FAFSA, applications, etc.), usually 6mo- 1 year.))

Did it crush me not to have the extra hours? NOPE. Because I've gotten so much MORE time.

I'm following the advice of Ghandi. I am the change I want to see in the world. I'm homeschooling my son. I'm in school working towards my own dreams (I'm quad majoring, it's gonna take awhile). I'm doing things in reverse order than most people... but hey. Whatever :)

Darn... this got long. So I'll skip listing my childhood dreams, which are pretty lengthy, as is the description of what I'm working toward now as an adult.

Check out CollegePlus.org. My kids are starting this next year and I thought about it too. Not sure if it's a fit for you but it might be worth looking into. Good luck to you!!

When I was young (pre high school) - I wanted to be a pediatrician or a bagger at Krogers (always seemed fun to me). As I got older, I wanted to do something in business where I could talk and wear cute suits/heels. LOL After getting my degree in Communications, I wanted to work in a job where I could use my communication skills, teach or work for the government (what my dad did/still does).

But I got a job as a food buyer for a large hotel chain. Did not like it and moved into their sales department and it was much more up my ally but I started to wish I was teaching. I got my masters in Education and subbed but never found a teaching job. As a result of having my Masters (and not my experience) I got a job working for the government in a very geeky technical job that I actually really love!!! (And I work for the same company as my dad does).

So in a way I've found the 'perfect' job for me. Great hours that are flexible, great pay, close to home (20 mins), work that is stimulating but not always go-go-go and I get to use my communication skills when we get new apps that I train the team on / help our customers. I found this job before I had kids, by the way. Five years later I'm still here and have no plans on leaving!

I wanted to be a mom and I wanted to have a business of my own. Daycare naturally came out of that.

I knew what I wanted to do when I was in college, earned my degree, worked up the corporate ladder, then started a family.

Be sure that the outlook for teaching jobs looks good in your area. You don't want to go back to school for that degree, only to find no districts are hiring. In California, so many teachers have been laid off. Be realistic. If the outlook is good, go for it! Make the sacrifices now and get that degree and teaching credential finished.

My career was ending before my daughter was born. The timing was perfect. I felt that I accomplished everything and more in this industry and that the industry is on a rapid decline as we speak.

For monetary reasons I hung on during my pregnancy, got a four-month maternity leave and returned exhausted.

I no longer wanted a career, at least not this one. I just longed to be home with my DD or work part-time, from home.

Long story short, there were company-wide layoffs in March and I had two months "off", only to return to the same industry. That darn money thing again!

I would still love to work part-time or take two mindless jobs until I figure out my next "career."

But for now I just want a job, not a career.

Sign me,
Wanting to clear my head

I've always wanted to be a novelist. I write in my spare time, but with 3 kids it's be a looooooooong time! I'm hoping to get back into it once my kids are all in school.

I'd also worked in a daycare before I had kids and LOVED it....but now that I've had my *own* I don't think I'd want to do that again.

I'm trying to figure out what I want to do once the kids are all in school. My husband is ok with me taking the first "free" year to write, but after that I have to get a job with an actual paycheck :) So we'll see what that ends up being. Right now, I'm thinking insurance or something. Minimal schooling, sorta professional environment, air conditioned office. Could be worse, right?

I have always wanted to be a SAHM. However, I went to college after high school, studying Pre-Med. I remember sitting in Organic Chemistry one day, looking around the room. I had to ask myself, "What am I doing here? I don't want to spend the rest of my life with *these* people. I want to be at home raising my children, loving my husband, caring for our home." And so I quit. Three years in and I walked away. I knew it was not how I wanted to spend my life, and I didn't want to be saddled with guilt for "wasting" that education. I was married a couple of years later, and now after 22 years+ of marriage and 6 children, I find myself so thankful for waking up and walking away. I love my life.

Yes, definately go back if you have a chance....Especially when your kids are young...they have internet classes at different colleges, but do your homework first. Don't go into debt over this, if possible...try and do 3 to 6 hrs over internet if you have the extra $$$, of course we helped our children with college. Our son is Chiropractic, our daughter is a Rad. Tech.both love there jobs
I did and never had any regrets, I'm a Registered Nurse (RN). Do it before your kids get older its much easier even through you don't think it is now...as once they get older you will have to stay on top of them, like who they hand with...etc...Good luck