Mommyfaithe Posted July 7, 2011 Share Posted July 7, 2011 Homeschooling your children and helping your dh build his business...which would you choose?? It is coming to the point where I have to decide. Our business is crazy busy...and we will either grow or stagnate....He needs my help right now, but between chronic illness and homeschooling...I am exhausted. I can not continue to work 40 hours...homeschool full time and be the Mom and homemaker. Something has to give...and it comes down to work or homeschool. Which would you choose? Faithe Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skadi Posted July 7, 2011 Share Posted July 7, 2011 "The most important work you and I will ever do will be within the walls of our own homes." - Harold B. Lee Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
UnsinkableKristen Posted July 7, 2011 Share Posted July 7, 2011 I would choose to help with the business. You can always pull your children back out of PS if the business no longer needs you at some point, but this is a time where you can give critical help to your DH that you won't be able to give later. And congratulations for having a growing business!! That is always wonderful to hear about. :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Greta Posted July 7, 2011 Share Posted July 7, 2011 What schooling options are available to you? Is the public school district you are in a good one? Or would private school be a possible choice? For me it would all depend on that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SonshineLearner Posted July 7, 2011 Share Posted July 7, 2011 How long do you see this happening? What financial resources would be possible if you worked, for taking care of your children? As a nanny, I would have considered it a challenge to have kids who were being homeschooled. I would have loved to help faciliate the kid's schooling. If it was for 1 or 2 years, I would consider that. Just a thought. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris in VA Posted July 7, 2011 Share Posted July 7, 2011 It would depend on the business. I could see hiring someone to help build the business, or hiring someone to help school the kids. Personally, I'd rather school than not. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nukeswife Posted July 7, 2011 Share Posted July 7, 2011 Honestly if my husband needed me so badly in his "work" life, then I would expect him to help out more in my "work" life so that I could help him with the business, but he would have to help me with the homemaker/homeschool stuff. Therefore it would spread it all out among us both. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chepyl Posted July 7, 2011 Share Posted July 7, 2011 My DH has a window cleaning business and we co-own a performing arts academy for which I teach most of the dance classes. I would continue with homeschooling. If your business is growing so much, can you afford to pay someone to do the house work? If you had someone come once or twice a week to do the laundry, bathrooms and other deep cleaning; would that give you some relief? Can you rearrange your school schedule? We do school between 11 am and 3 pm, sometimes at 10 pm. The kids go to bed around 11 pm and don't get up until late (3 year old sleeps until noon sometimes!) This allows me to work on studio paper work in the mornings before school. If you school at night, could your husband help with school work? Those are just my thoughts if you really wanted to continue with homeschooling. If you are okay with the PS in your area, put them in school for a year. We have a school by us that is 2-2.5 days a week of school and you homeschool the rest of the week. Do you have anything like that near you? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Danestress Posted July 7, 2011 Share Posted July 7, 2011 Would there be real satisfaction for you in the work? Or in the pride of doing the work and building the business? Is it a viable business that promises to provide for your futures? When you think about putting the kids in school and working in the business, do you feel optimistic and excited, even though you might also feel scared/guilty/remorseful? Or are your feelings pretty negative? If you continue to homeschool, what will happy with the business? Will it fold? Or just make less money? Would your DH be really unhappy if you don't join him? When you talk about it, does he have a strong opinion? Do you work well with him? This just isn't a decision that anyone else can say, "I would do X" because there are so many factors. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cera Posted July 7, 2011 Share Posted July 7, 2011 If your local schools are good it might make sense to put the kids in school for a year and reevaluate after you have spent some time helping out in the business. I would probably make a list of all of your responsibilities (school, business, household, etc) and then figure out your budget and start deciding what to outsource. There are lots of things to make household life easier (maid, grocery delivery, etc) which might relieve some of your stress. You could also hire someone to help homeschool or someone to help in the business (or maybe two part timers, one for homeschooling and one for the business which would still let you work with both and oversee what is going on). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Murphy101 Posted July 7, 2011 Share Posted July 7, 2011 Honestly if my husband needed me so badly in his "work" life, then I would expect him to help out more in my "work" life so that I could help him with the business, but he would have to help me with the homemaker/homeschool stuff. Therefore it would spread it all out among us both. :iagree: I would home school. Dh would insist on it and help to make it happen. The point of work is to support the family living. If his work is actually taking away from our family, then neither of us would understand the point. Very short term? I'd suck it up and do both for a year if I had to. Permanently? Neither of us would be okay with that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sputterduck Posted July 7, 2011 Share Posted July 7, 2011 I would make a program that is more self study and then I would work part time for the business. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eaglei Posted July 7, 2011 Share Posted July 7, 2011 Honestly if my husband needed me so badly in his "work" life, then I would expect him to help out more in my "work" life so that I could help him with the business, but he would have to help me with the homemaker/homeschool stuff. Therefore it would spread it all out among us both. This makes sense to me . . . Would there be real satisfaction for you in the work? Or in the pride of doing the work and building the business? Is it a viable business that promises to provide for your futures? When you think about putting the kids in school and working in the business, do you feel optimistic and excited, even though you might also feel scared/guilty/remorseful? Or are your feelings pretty negative? If you continue to homeschool, what will happy with the business? Will it fold? Or just make less money? Would your DH be really unhappy if you don't join him? When you talk about it, does he have a strong opinion? Do you work well with him? This just isn't a decision that anyone else can say, "I would do X" because there are so many factors. These are important questions . . . Also, I noted that your at-home children are between the ages of 7 and 17. Can they help with the business? With the older helping to school the younger? With household responsibilities? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NanceXToo Posted July 7, 2011 Share Posted July 7, 2011 Honestly if my husband needed me so badly in his "work" life, then I would expect him to help out more in my "work" life so that I could help him with the business, but he would have to help me with the homemaker/homeschool stuff. Therefore it would spread it all out among us both. I like this. Also, can the kids pitch in and help with these things too? It would certainly be a learning experience in and of itself if they are old enough (and if they're not old enough, a more relaxed approach to homeschooling for a while could be another option to consider. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GinaPagnato Posted July 7, 2011 Share Posted July 7, 2011 We were in this EXACT situation 3 years ago, and dh left it up to me to decide what I wanted to do, although he is a huge supporter of hsing. He recognized that I was quickly coming to the end of myself, and, just as important, the older our kids got, the more intense their school work. I chose to hire someone to replace me in the business, and I dove headlong into FT hs and home-making. Neither of us has ever regretted the choice, and quite honestly, God has blessed our business so much in the process. We're better off now than we were 3 years ago, and that's with me not working more than a few hours per week on some accounting related issues. So, I vote for hiring someone to do your business work, and you continuing to teach your kiddos. :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
saraha Posted July 7, 2011 Share Posted July 7, 2011 I think it would also depend on the reason WHY you homeschool. The reason you started homeschooling in the first place maybe could be revisited, and if the circumstances changed, or are no longer applicable, that could make a big difference in your decision. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
6packofun Posted July 7, 2011 Share Posted July 7, 2011 (edited) Same here. It would depend on whether or not we could try to get through a difficult season building the business for security and profit later, but not if I had to give up more than a year of limited or difficult homeschooling. If there's no end in sight to the great needs of the business, I'd ask dh if he could hire someone to replace ME so that I could concentrate on the kids, even if it meant tightening the belt significantly in our finances. Too many variables to know for sure what I'd do. I only know that I wouldn't want to devote more than a year to the business without seeing that need let up a bit and show some fruit. Edited to add: Could 1-2 of the older kids work in the business to give them some experience (and possibly a little pay?) in their off hours from school? Edited July 7, 2011 by 6packofun add Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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