4kids4me Posted December 5, 2011 Share Posted December 5, 2011 Am I in for a real shock going back to the baby stage? Is it just not worth it financially? Am I asking too much from myself and my kids, who will be helping? Or is this do-able? I'm just so uncertain. I've love to help bring more money into the house, just not sure if this is the way. This is temporary as niece goes back to work for a while until she gets pregnant and has a baby (maternity leave is a year here, so often it's better financially to go back to work if you plan on getting pregnant again for mat leave). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Elizabeth in WA Posted December 5, 2011 Share Posted December 5, 2011 I wouldn't be able to do it. My teens schooling takes a tremendous amount of my time and energy and they do not have time either to spend babysitting during the schoolday with their academic load and afterschool sports commitments. My youngers also need me to be on top of them or they do not get their work done. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
4kids4me Posted December 5, 2011 Author Share Posted December 5, 2011 I wouldn't be able to do it. My teens schooling takes a tremendous amount of my time and energy and they do not have time either to spend babysitting during the schoolday with their academic load and afterschool sports commitments. My youngers also need me to be on top of them or they do not get their work done. sigh...this is what I'm thinking... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
5LittleMonkeys Posted December 5, 2011 Share Posted December 5, 2011 My grades are 8th, 6th, 3rd, and K plus I have a 3yo. There is no way I could take on two more that little. I have an incredibly hard time keeping my 3yo occupied while we are doing school now and there are days that just dealing with her makes me want to throw in the towel. I am actively teaching for 6 to 7 hours each day. I had considered taking on a 3yo and a 4yo a while back to bring in some money but my husband had to step in and be brutally honest with me to get me to see how bad that would have been. He was absolutely right of coarse. My first responsibility would have to be my dc and that wouldn't be fair to the dc that I would be babysitting. They would have to pretty much entertain themselves most of the day. I don't think it would have been fair to my 5yo to try to teach them along with him because he really needs one on one time right now without the distraction of two other dc to keep quite and still. Then again...maybe I'm just a wimp! I have no doubt there are ladies on this board who could pull it off with flying colors and probably already do everyday! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
regentrude Posted December 5, 2011 Share Posted December 5, 2011 (edited) Am I in for a real shock going back to the baby stage? Is it just not worth it financially? Am I asking too much from myself and my kids, who will be helping? I would not ask my high school age children to help out with my babysitting job (unless it is absolutely needed to keep food on the table and a roof over our head), because that would severely compromise their academic education. Occasionally watching a younger sibling would be different, but planning for my children to do a part of my regular paid job, no way. I don't know if you can do it alone, I could not. Can you spare the huge amount of time this will take? This time will not be available for you to work with your own children. But whatever you decide, I do think you need to make this decision without planning for your children to be involved - their job should be their education. Edited December 5, 2011 by regentrude Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
4kids4me Posted December 5, 2011 Author Share Posted December 5, 2011 I would not ask my high school age children to help out with my babysitting job (unless it is absolutely needed to keep food on the table and a roof over our head), because that would severely compromise their academic education.Occasionally watching a younger sibling would be different, but planning for my children to do a part of my regular paid job, no way. I don't know if you can do it alone, I could not. Can you spare the huge amount of time this will take? This time will not be available for you to work with your own children. But whatever you decide, I do think you need to make this decision without planning for your children to be involved - their job should be their education. I hear you all!!! Actually, I wouldn't ask the eldest to help out as her work load is fairly heavy. It'd be more the 9yo that does her work quickly and would definitely play with the 3yo...the 1yo would be my responsibility. I think it'd get old, though, playing with them all the time. And I have to factor in child melt downs, which I'm not sure I want to deal with again at this point in my life. Ok, so it's looking like NO!!!! Thanks to everyone!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MelanieM Posted December 5, 2011 Share Posted December 5, 2011 Have you homeschooled all of your kids from the beginning? If so, just think back to what it was like doing school with toddlers and babies under foot. Gack. lol! Actually, I've seen quite a few posts here from mothers that send their own 2-3 yr olds off to preschool so they can get stuff done with their older kids. I think that speaks volumes. For me, I'm trying not to wish away these days with my two youngest as I look forward to life being easier as they get older. I cannot imagine jumping back into this stage with someone else's kids when mine are finally all school-aged. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
4kids4me Posted December 5, 2011 Author Share Posted December 5, 2011 Have you homeschooled all of your kids from the beginning? If so, just think back to what it was like doing school with toddlers and babies under foot. Gack. lol! Actually, I've seen quite a few posts here from mothers that send their own 2-3 yr olds off to preschool so they can get stuff done with their older kids. I think that speaks volumes. For me, I'm trying not to wish away these days with my two youngest as I look forward to life being easier as they get older. I cannot imagine jumping back into this stage with someone else's kids when mine are finally all school-aged. LOL, well I do remember hsing the older ones when the youngers were little, but then the older two were only, say, gr. 3 and 5, which technically isn't as much work as we're doing now. :D Ok, temporary insanity. Maybe I'm hitting menopause early? Does that make you temporarily insane? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jenn in Mo Posted December 5, 2011 Share Posted December 5, 2011 Youch, that's a tough one. It really can bring in some good money. The average is $20 per day, per child in my small town, so I imagine it's better elsewhere. If you could truly organize it so that your homeschool day wasn't interrupted and continued to run smoothly, it could work. Sadly, my homeschool day doesn't run smoothly without added distractions. I would feel like a chicken with it's head cut off and by dinner time, I would NOT feel like cooking a from-scratch meal. My babysitting money would probably go to convenience foods in the end and not really gain me anything. Of course, if you told me you were considering having more beautiful babies, I'd encourage you 100%, so I know it doesn't have to be an interruption or a distraction; it can just be part of your new routine. It just couldn't be part of mine. lol. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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