working/homeschooling moms check in!

[texasmama]

In the summer of 2009, I became a part time working mom in addition to homeschooling (which I also consider to be a job).:001_smile: This was a return to a previous job of being a psychotherapist. I have worked 6 hours a week since that tiime. Then, this semester, I added in teaching a graduate course at a local university, also a return to a job I had previously done (but not for about eight years). So now I am doing two part-time jobs, homeschooling and doing all the wife and mom stuff I did previously. Homeschooling is not suffering, but I wonder if I am juggling it all and doing everything justice. :confused: Anyone else? How are the rest of you faring? What do you do to keep balanced?

 

(I hope this makes sense - I am dead dog tired and the kids just walked in from church during the writing of this post.:tongue_smilie:)

[NCJessieRN]

In March of this year we were in a financial bind and I had to go to work full time. I'm a nurse and I would work 12hrs Sat, Sun, and Mondays. Thankfully, I was able to quit in May! It was way too hard to balance! I did what was necessary for that time but I did not manage well. My husband helped as much as he could (dinner was made, house picked up, and kids were bathed and in bed by the time i got home) but I just felt like I never stopped going because I always had to make sure we had our school stuff planned and implemented. Also, emotionally it was challenging because I didn't see the two youngest for three days out of the week. Your circumstances sound different so you may not encounter the challenges I did. If you are working because you need to then I feel like we can do anything for a season but if you do not need to work then I'm not sure I would take on that much. I enjoy working PRN (as needed) a few days a month.

[Tutor]

I currently have three jobs that I do from home (mostly) - homeschooling, writing, and photography. Looks like we'll be adding some gluten-free/ dairy-free baked goods sales to my artist booth next summer, but my dd13 will be doing most of that (yay!). Last year I also babysat two kids. I was TIRED... still am sometimes. However, I find that I manage my time better when I keep very busy.

 

My dh is a graduate student and was able to arrange his schedule so that he only needed to be on campus three days a week most days. That helps me out tremendously. We divided the week into three days on/ three days off when it comes to parenting duties. Whoever is "primary parent" on a given day is in charge of parenting and household responsibilities (chauffeuring, errands, household chores, cooking, being the "go to" parent, and supervising the kids' chores). I still do all of the direct teaching all days (I consider it one of my jobs), but I have scheduled our school week to be lighter for direct teaching from me on my "work days." Sometimes the kids would forget who was the "go to" parent, so we developed the headphone rule... the parent wearing the headphones is working, so do not disturb except in emergencies (death, blood, loss of consciousness, fire). Dh and I still help each other out if we are both home, but generally this is how we have everything divvied up.

 

Also, the kids have a 90 minute quiet time every day, and if I need it I will take a nap then. That can be a tremendous help. My being able to take a nap is easier now that my kids are older but is still doable with younger ones... I just had to be way more flexible on what constituted "rest" for me. :)

 

Hope that was coherent. Today I am really tired (no nap today after a late night last night) and I am primary parent tonight (dh just walked in the door) so I have been interrupted a few times for snack requests and permission to watch videos and such. :)

[Mommyfaithe]

I am a working/ homeschoolig Mom. I am a book keeper and have always had p/t work. Five years ago dh began his own plumbing/ heating/ a/c business and I began working for him...about 25 hours a week. Some weeks it is more like 40...some weeks 20. It is all difficult to juggle, but we can't afford to pay someone else to do this job...I tried some office help and it was awful. I hated having a stranger in my home during the day, and it just took more of my time teaching them this business.

 

Anyway...I am working and homeschooling...and although it is hectic, I am doing ok.

 

Faithe

[nova mama]

Well, I'm supposed to be working right now but clearly I'm not. :D Except for a few conference calls, I usually work in the mornings before school then in the wee hours of the night. It's actually working out much better than last year, when I tried to work during school, sitting next to the kids with my laptop.

 

Our house is not very clean, and I would like to get more sleep, but I'm grateful to have a job that leaves me free to homeschool!

[workingmom]

I work mostly two weekdays, so I don't even bother to schedule those days. Ds goes to a sitter's and he gets some foreign language done there. However even if I get done early if I pick him up early I will get a head start on the week but its not necessary for our schedule. I also pick some curriculum that he can do by himself like history (he reads, does the mapwork, then I quiz on the comprehension). When I cook, I cook three meals at a time so that makes dinner time smoother. I save errands for the weekend or my "work" days if I get done early. We also school 4 days a week year round (one week off every 5).

[elise1mds]

I work from home part-time, in the evening. I've been doing that for almost three years now, and I love having a paycheck, no matter how small.

[texasmama]

Thanks for the replies!:001_smile: You know, as much as anything, it is just nice to talk with other moms who work and homeschool. I have had two hard weeks in a row, which has made me feel overwhelmed.

 

We really do need me to work some at this point, and I enjoy parts of it, particularly the therapy. It is an "easy" job for me in that I have many years of previous experience at it so it is not challenging, stressful or difficult. I am a contractor so I have a ton of independence, an office and clerical support are provided, and I am otherwise left alone. It is rewarding work, for the most part.

 

The teaching gig was working pretty well for the first month or so, and it has picked up a bit with assignments/papers to be graded and such. I also have a difficult student in my class who takes a disproportionate amount of my time/energy. Though I have taught this course in the past, it was some years back and the text has changed so it is like starting from scratch with the preparation. I have made some changes in the way I conduct the class (more breaking into small groups, discussing and reporting back in class) to break the monotony of me lecturing for almost three hours. I enjoy parts of teaching, but it is also a demanding job, both while I am at class and during the time I need to prepare/grade papers/etc. I don't have to keep office hours, though, and I have a small class (13 students) so that is nice. I have come to realize as I type this that teaching is challenging my sense of self/competency since I am starting from scratch. Doing the therapy doesn't do that, and I like it that way.:D

 

I school four days a week, and the boys attend a science co op class on Fridays. We do about an hour of homework for that class during the week. I am the sole person doing cooking, laundry, and grocery shopping, as well. (That is not going to change...) The house has suffered in cleanliness, and that weighs on my mental state, but otherwise, nothing else seems to have suffered. This past couple of weeks, I have suffered, though.:tongue_smilie: I feel tired, impatient at times and worn down. My husband owns a business and while his schedule is somewhat flexible, he stays pretty busy. My dad provides child care for my three youngest kids while I work. I think I am rambling now.:blush: It cheers me on a great deal to know that I am not alone in my juggling act. I am grateful for the career I chose, which is a flexible one and allows for part time work. Given a choice, I would keep a bit of part time work, I think.

 

Would love to hear from other working/homeschooling mamas.:001_smile:

[Karen in CO]

I work full-time from home. I have my office in the family room so I can keep an eye one everything. I have a very cool cowboy hat that I put on as a do-not-disturb sign when I need quiet.

 

Some days I can take off in the middle of the day and go for a nature walk or to the park with the kids and some days, I barely see them except when they bring me food. I've decided that we just don't have school on the days I'm extremely busy and our school year will stretch out a bit. Flexible. I've got to be flexible.

[scrapbabe]

We relocated and started a business 2 1/2 years ago. I worked 40 + hours in the evenings/nights along with hubby, and the kids were always in tow. Now, I work only 8-12 hours a week (sometimes more) so I don't feel so crazy. School is getting done, but not everything else gets done. There's always laundry to fold or wash (we live out of baskets mostly). The dishes don't get done right away. House really only gets clean on Saturday, and that's if we didn't have a big event at our business. A friend recently asked how I do it all. My reply was "I don't". I just pick what's most important to me and start there. I hate having a messy house, but in 15 years it won't matter at all that my house was messy today. But it will matter that I spent time with my kids learning and sharing together. : )

 

Smiles,

Shalynn

[laurad1125]

I have a very cool cowboy hat that I put on as a do-not-disturb sign when I need quiet.

 

 

I LOVE that idea. I get so tired of responding to the boys with, "I'm working...." I've tried signs but they just don't work very well...

[regentrude]

I work about 25 hours a week as a college instructor. Ten of those I can work at home.

[Catherine]

I'm a doctor, working as a hospitalist, and it's shift work. I work 3 12 hour shifts every 2 weeks. It's difficult, made more so by my lack of great organizational skills, and my dh's career, which is certainly more than 40 hours a week-he's an academic.

 

I try to let house stuff go, fit it into the gaps of time, and keep schooling and working my priorities. I used to have 4 kids at home; this year I only have 2 and it's a huge difference. I also no longer have babies and that really, really helps!

[Ravin]

I work 32(usually) hours a week at Wal-mart. My shifts are 5-9AM in the cash office 4 mornings a week plus 2 overnights. They've been very anal about hours lately, so I've been getting as little as 24 hours.

 

Generally, we do school after I get home from work on cash office days, and lighter school on days I overnight (especially days like today, when I'll do both--I'm off at 9 then I'll turn around and go in tonight for an 8 hr overnight shift, minus the time I have to cut because the office work goes long most days). DD has her enrichment program on Fridays. I usually spend the time napping.

 

I'm currently the main breadwinner. DH works about the same hours I do, but he makes a lot less, and his main focus is school as he's a full time college student.

 

The house is a mess--we try and keep the living room picked up and the school room in a state that'll let you walk across it, but DD's room is a total disaster.

 

Next year will be a whole other ball of wax, as I'll hopefully be back in school myself. It's looking like a Tuesday/Thursday schedule for DD (at her enrichment program) and I will be feasible, which will also minimize the number of days the baby will need to be in daycare. I might have more time for housework then, but I won't bet on it.:tongue_smilie:

[G5052]

Over a decade now of juggling, juggling.

 

I've had a tough time getting into work and homeschooling of late, but we had a really hard summer and thankfully things are more even now. I think that I was near burn-out in July and August, so I've been turning down additional work recently and have tried to purposely keep everything lighter.

 

We need the $, but I know when to say "no."

[Granny_Weatherwax]

I work about 25 hours a week as a college instructor. Ten of those I can work at home.

 

Me, too. I am struggling with helping DS with his work and keeping up with the housework, attending all of DD's tennis matches(most of which are 1-2 hours away). There are certain subjects that I keep putting on the back burner. DS is doing well on his own but I need to figure out how to manage my time better. Tennis season is over after this Sat so that will free up .about 10+ hours a week.

 

I am also decreasing my class load for next semester.