| Author | |
mellyrose
Forum All-Star
Joined: May 12 2006
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 939
|
| Posted: June 20 2008 at 4:45pm | IP Logged
|
 |
|
As a tangent from the "do you have paid work" thread, I am curious about how child care is handled?
We are finding ourselves in more difficult financial situations with each passing day, and I am trying to discern how to best help my family.
I am resigned to giving up homeschooling  for a year or 2, but still will be faced with child care costs for after school care and for Lydia. I'm wondering if I'm just not thinking outside of the box enough in regards to child care?
DH's schedule is erratic and cannot be counted on more than a single day at a time. His day ranges anywhere from 9AM to 10PM and we don't know his schedule until 8AM each day - so 2nd shift work for me would still require child care.
thanks!
__________________
Melanie in AZ
Colin (11/00), Nate (05/02), Lydia (04/07)
My Little Patch of Sunshine
Pictures of our Life
|
| Back to Top |
|
| |
Roma
Forum Rookie
Joined: July 29 2007
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 61
|
| Posted: June 20 2008 at 7:31pm | IP Logged
|
|
|
i don't know if this would work for you, but i've heard of some moms that watch kids before and after school. the kids will come to their house and take the bus to school and then get dropped off in the afternoon by the bus.
|
| Back to Top |
|
| |
cornomama4
Forum Pro
Joined: June 20 2007
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 189
|
| Posted: June 21 2008 at 11:37am | IP Logged
|
|
|
That may be a great idea for you to do....depending on what type of job you're wanting to get, you'll would probably come out ahead $$-wise by watching kids before and after school in your home and not having to pay childcare while you work. I was paying $18/ hour with only 3!  Now I have 4, so forget it!
I'm tempted daily to try and get some job, but childcare expenses negate almost any profit I would make. Dh says just stay here and help him with the ebay business when I can. Maybe when my oldest is 13 (in 5 years!) I'll be able to do something outside the home. I hope you are able to find a solution. Good luck 
cm4
|
| Back to Top |
|
| |
stefoodie
Forum Moderator
Joined: Feb 17 2005
Location: Ohio
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 8457
|
| Posted: June 21 2008 at 11:46am | IP Logged
|
|
|
When dd was 6 and ds was 1 we decided I needed to go back to work, so I did, for a year, and at tax time after calculating everything, we barely broke even -- I was paying minimally for child care -- mostly family and friends -- but our biggest expense? The gas and extra meals we had to eat out esp. when I worked overtime. After everything was said and done, it was just not worth it for us and we went back to being a one-income family and never looked back.
I'm not saying it can't work for anyone else, just that there are so many things to calculate, make sure that if you do take a job outside that it will make a significant difference to your family income and determine if that significance is enough to offset the time you spend away from your kids.
__________________
stef
mom to five
|
| Back to Top |
|
| |
SallyT
Forum All-Star
Joined: Aug 08 2007
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 2489
|
| Posted: June 24 2008 at 11:37pm | IP Logged
|
|
|
Very good point. The easiest paid work I've done, which has not required someone else to watch my kids, has been doing after-school care for a friend's middle-school-age daughter. She paid me what the school would charge for the same hours, which came to $40/week for one child. That $40 bought us groceries on many occasions. If I'd kept more kids, obviously that would have been multiplied.
We so often think of babysitting as involving babies, but older children need care and supervision during those non-school hours, too. This worked well for us, because the girl (spending the night at our house as I write this) is a good friend to my older kids and fit right into our household. When she did her homework in the afternoons, my oldest studied alongside her, and then they entertained the little people while I made dinner, or made dinner while I entertained the little people. As child-care jobs go, it was very cushy and cost me practically nothing -- gas to pick her up from school every day, but the school wasn't that far away.
So, yeah . . . I avoided arranging childcare by BEING the childcare.
Sally
__________________
Castle in the Sea
Abandon Hopefully
|
| Back to Top |
|
| |
Sarah M
Forum All-Star
Joined: Jan 06 2008
Location: Washington
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 1423
|
| Posted: June 25 2008 at 11:20am | IP Logged
|
|
|
We're just really lucky in that my work schedule is opposite of dh's. So he's always here when I'm at work. I work for our local library system as a substitute (I'm not a librarian, just a "clerk")- so I can say yes or no as my schedule allows, and the pay is quite good. If you have a local library system, check out their jobs info- I have been amazed at how well this field works with our family life.
I will be praying for you, as I know this is a major stresser, and I also know that God has a perfectly suitable plan in store for you. Are there any homeschooled teens in your area that are looking for some childcare experience?
Prayers and lots of 
|
| Back to Top |
|
| |
4Real Forums : Tea and Conversation
Topic: IF paid work, how is kid care handled?
