Mom work life during and after home schooling

[Murphy101]

Personally I don’t regret staying home or home schooling. Maybe if I did, this would be easier. Ideally, I’d love to continue being a SAHM and home schooling the next 17 years.  I like having the freedom to do what I want with my time. But life hasn’t been asking my opinion on things.

[Scarlett]

14 minutes ago, Murphy101 said:

Personally I don’t regret staying home or home schooling. Maybe if I did, this would be easier. Ideally, I’d love to continue being a SAHM and home schooling the next 17 years.  I like having the freedom to do what I want with my time. But life hasn’t been asking my opinion on things.

This is kind of my feelings on it too.  I would love to not have to work (for pay)  at all, to be there to take care of the house, cooking, cleaning , shopping , running errands of all kinds, helping my aging parents, my aging inlaws….the list goes on and on.  I have never understood people 'bored' at home...I never/rarely am.  But anyway, life changes constantly and our situation is such that I feel I just have to bring in a bit of money at least.  

I don't regret staying home and homeschooling.  I think it has been the best thing I  have ever done and I think it was very valuable.  

[Murphy101]

I don’t get bored by not having a paying job either. I stay very busy most of the time. It’s a lot of work to educate kids, home or not, and it takes no small amount of organizing to make sure the needs of everyone are met. And then there’s church and volunteer obligations. And then there’s staying in touch with friends. And then there’s gardening, swimming, knitting...

If anything, I often feel over whelmed and that sure doesn’t sound like it would get easier with a paying job. 

[Frances]

19 minutes ago, Murphy101 said:

I don’t get bored by not having a paying job either. I stay very busy most of the time. It’s a lot of work to educate kids, home or not, and it takes no small amount of organizing to make sure the needs of everyone are met. And then there’s church and volunteer obligations. And then there’s staying in touch with friends. And then there’s gardening, swimming, knitting...

If anything, I often feel over whelmed and that sure doesn’t sound like it would get easier with a paying job. 

When I was doing it all (working FT, homeschooling, and handling the majority of house and EC stuff) while my husband went back to school for a PharmD degree, I basically had little to no free time. Reading is one of my main hobbies, and I literally did not read a book for pleasure for four years, only books related to my son’s schooling. But, we had made a family pact that we were not going to wish the four years away and were going to live in the present. In the end, it has been very worth the sacrifices because my husband makes twice as much money while working half the hours. I’ve kept my job, switching to part-time while my son was still at home, and then going back to FT when he went to college. It has top notch benefits, including virtually free excellent health insurance. And our son gained some very valuable skills and really stepped up to the plate to help out during those years. We are fortunate to live very centrally with virtually everything we need in walking distance, so even as a middle schooler, he could get himself almost everywhere he needed to go by foot or on bike.

Personally, I’m in awe of moms with large families. I do think it would be much harder with many more children, unless they are willing, able, and old enough to really help out. Also, I’m not sure what we did would have been nearly as doable if we did not live in such a walkable location. It really made all the difference. Both of our jobs are also walking distance from home.

[Murphy101]

The hazard of having children old enough to be able and willing to help out is that they are also old enough to be working and taking college classes and helping at church and all those things themselves. It’s rare that my older children babysit and such because they aren’t here much to do it. They are more than willing when they are able though. Honestly, I would have to be pretty desperate to ask more of them. I’m very very strongly in the camp of it’s not their job to help raise their younger siblings. 

[Scarlett]

2 minutes ago, Murphy101 said:

The hazard of having children old enough to be able and willing to help out is that they are also old enough to be working and taking college classes and helping at church and all those things themselves. It’s rare that my older children babysit and such because they aren’t here much to do it. They are more than willing when they are able though. Honestly, I would have to be pretty desperate to ask more of them. I’m very very strongly in the camp of it’s not their job to help raise their younger siblings. 

Yep.  I didn't have youngers but I was just thinking last night that there was a very brief window where they were old enough to really help out before they had their own car and a job.  I had to make a big Sam's run for work and I am still sore from loading and unloading....I was remembering that when ds was 14 and 15 and dss was 15 they both, at different times, went with me on those big Sam's trips and they were sooooo helpful.

[Lang Syne Boardie]

I started a business last year. What I learned:

1. There's a market for what I do (music lessons and performance - niche instruments/genre) and my business model is excellent. And I enjoyed it.

2. But the time diverted from full attention to my mid-sized family meant that I made no money. You know all those extra homemaking moves that save a lot on almost every budget category? I had less time and attention for them, so in the final analysis I couldn't earn more than I could save *in the hours alloted for work.* IOW, if I could have worked full time, I'd have outpaced my savings, but I couldn't do that bc I'm still hsing and raising kids with special medical needs.

I got all of my students to a good level for a break, and stopped taking new students. I'm keeping my business semi-alive by teaching group classes on Saturdays and participating in the local music scene, so I still have my local rep and connections. I will rebuild in four years when my youngest graduates. At that time, it will be a perfect career; I'll be able to work full time as a teacher, play local gigs for extra cash, travel to regional music festivals where I can teach and perform for higher pay, yet still be home based and self-employed.

I really hope the world stands still for four years, at least as far as my career plan goes. 

 

[Lang Syne Boardie]

6 minutes ago, Murphy101 said:

The hazard of having children old enough to be able and willing to help out is that they are also old enough to be working and taking college classes and helping at church and all those things themselves. It’s rare that my older children babysit and such because they aren’t here much to do it. They are more than willing when they are able though. Honestly, I would have to be pretty desperate to ask more of them. I’m very very strongly in the camp of it’s not their job to help raise their younger siblings. 

 

YES. My teens could be doing all the frugal homemaking while I work, but it's far more to the point that THEY work - jobs, academics, interests and skills for their own futures.

[retiredHSmom]

4 hours ago, Murphy101 said:

Personally I don’t regret staying home or home schooling. Maybe if I did, this would be easier. Ideally, I’d love to continue being a SAHM and home schooling the next 17 years.  I like having the freedom to do what I want with my time. But life hasn’t been asking my opinion on things.

I absolutely agree with this. I tell people all the time that I am being forcibly retired.  I have tried to convince my husband to adopt so that I can homeschool round 2 (he will not agree). So I had to face a change in life and while I thought that I might be fulfilled just puttering around, I found that I wasn't, so off to a new adventure it was.

[Frances]

On 6/20/2018 at 8:49 AM, Murphy101 said:

The hazard of having children old enough to be able and willing to help out is that they are also old enough to be working and taking college classes and helping at church and all those things themselves. It’s rare that my older children babysit and such because they aren’t here much to do it. They are more than willing when they are able though. Honestly, I would have to be pretty desperate to ask more of them. I’m very very strongly in the camp of it’s not their job to help raise their younger siblings. 

Well in our case our son was between grades 6-9, so no job or college classes, but old enough to independently get himself to many activities and appointments and help with cooking and cleaning. 

[LifeLovePassion]

I'm in this club too. Right now the girls just finished 4 and 6 at a local charter school. This goes until 8th grade, so I have at least a 2year sabbatical from homeschooling, unless I pull the younger one back home sooner. I would love to find a flexible part time job. Regular hours are ok, but flexible enough that I can shift to go on field trips and deal with sick kids and their days off (year round schedule). I've put in some applications and if nothing else will try out subbing in my local district some in the fall. I am also 1/6 of the way through Google's IT program through Coursera, so that could potentially bring me a wahm option once I finish. 

[Suzanne in ABQ]

22 hours ago, Liz CA said:

Suzanne, don't discount your "menopausal brain" entirely. I have gotten a degree and certifications with my menopausal brain and found it's actually still working. :)

I am one of those people who do better wholly focusing on something and I could not have done this with children in the house so waiting to continue education has been okay for me. More than okay. I have thoroughly enjoyed the process.

 

Thanks Liz.  I have picked up the oboe, which is really hard.  Perhaps I'll try some mental challenges next. Congrats on jumping back in and succeeding!

[Lisa R.]

Can I just add that you can work for a school and not be a teacher? There are lots of administrative jobs a person can get. Schools are more forgiving of resume gaps and generally have summers off. It’s a kid friendly schedule or a nice schedule that’s not 40 hours/week year round. 

Also, people that work at schools are generally nice. Most of them are not there for the money, but they are there to help. It makes for a different environment. 

[katilac]

On 6/18/2018 at 7:36 AM, Murphy101 said:

The wondering who will do all the things I do if I can’t jugglw them and work is a huge question for me.  

1

 

Yes, this, and I don't even have young kids! I'm applying and interviewing currently, and really hoping that someone wants to hire me . . . in September, because we have to get two kids moved into college in August.  Youngest will be local but move-in is during the week, and I don't want her experience to feel rushed or with half the attention in comparison to oldest. 

On 6/19/2018 at 4:32 PM, Lisa R. said:

 My point is that when you have that resume gap, you have to get your foot in the door. This might mean taking a job beneath your skill set and less pay that you'd like 

 

 

I don't have any issues with doing that, but I have already had two potential employers explicitly say 'you're overqualified, we're worried you don't really want the job and/or will jump for something better.'  I'm meeting with one of them next week and have some ideas on how to address it, but the overqualified label can be a big obstacle (and most employers won't ever tell you, they simply won't call you). 

It does annoy me when they say 'you will probably leave if someone offers you a better opportunity.' Dude, most of your employees would leave if offered a better opportunity!

On 6/20/2018 at 10:55 AM, Tibbie Dunbar said:

 But the time diverted from full attention to my mid-sized family meant that I made no money.  

 

 

This is more of a general comment than one directed at you: making no money (profit) for a certain amount of time can be a very legit plan. Positioning yourself to have a good job in four years is very worthwhile, even if you don't come out ahead during that time. Particularly if you'd prefer to be working rather than doing the money-saving stuff at home. And, if you would be working for a company, don't forget to count things like matching 401k funds and so forth. You can also play around with tax software. If I earn x amount of money, it's basically a wash due to not saving money at home. But what happens if I put y or z amount of that money into retirement savings with pre-tax dollars? Money put into health savings accounts also comes from pre-tax dollars, you take it with you when you leave the company, and it doesn't expire. 

Murphy101, I'd like to join the group. 

[Murphy101]

2 hours ago, katilac said:

 

Yes, this, and I don't even have young kids! I'm applying and interviewing currently, and really hoping that someone wants to hire me . . . in September, because we have to get two kids moved into college in August.  Youngest will be local but move-in is during the week, and I don't want her experience to feel rushed or with half the attention in comparison to oldest. 

 

I don't have any issues with doing that, but I have already had two potential employers explicitly say 'you're overqualified, we're worried you don't really want the job and/or will jump for something better.'  I'm meeting with one of them next week and have some ideas on how to address it, but the overqualified label can be a big obstacle (and most employers won't ever tell you, they simply won't call you). 

It does annoy me when they say 'you will probably leave if someone offers you a better opportunity.' Dude, most of your employees would leave if offered a better opportunity!

 

This is more of a general comment than one directed at you: making no money (profit) for a certain amount of time can be a very legit plan. Positioning yourself to have a good job in four years is very worthwhile, even if you don't come out ahead during that time. Particularly if you'd prefer to be working rather than doing the money-saving stuff at home. And, if you would be working for a company, don't forget to count things like matching 401k funds and so forth. You can also play around with tax software. If I earn x amount of money, it's basically a wash due to not saving money at home. But what happens if I put y or z amount of that money into retirement savings with pre-tax dollars? Money put into health savings accounts also comes from pre-tax dollars, you take it with you when you leave the company, and it doesn't expire. 

Murphy101, I'd like to join the group. 

I think most of us understand that we have to think about our end goal vs the now. But if right now money is tight or already in the negative an end goal that doesn’t net any profit for 4 years is a pipe dream.

[katilac]

1 minute ago, Murphy101 said:

I think most of us understand that we have to think about our end goal vs the now. But if right now money is tight or already in the negative an end goal that doesn’t net any profit for 4 years is a pipe dream.

 

That's why I said it "can be" a very legit plan, and said that it was general commentary, not in response to that particular post. If you can afford to live on x amount of dollars, whether that comes from staying home and being frugal or working a specific job and not being as frugal, then working that specific job might make sense for the long-term (you enjoy it, you may advance and make more money, taking a long break will make reentry difficult, you may need costly daycare now but not in four years, and so on). Those two choices net you the same amount in the now, and you have to decide if the potential long-term payoff is worth the current cost in time and energy. There are numerous factors to consider, some listed in my other post, and working a job that doesn't appear to pay off for years isn't always a crazy plan.

Of course it's not a great choice for someone who needs cash in hand right now, but then again neither is not working at all. 

 

 

[Lang Syne Boardie]

4 hours ago, katilac said:

 

 

 

This is more of a general comment than one directed at you: making no money (profit) for a certain amount of time can be a very legit plan. Positioning yourself to have a good job in four years is very worthwhile, even if you don't come out ahead during that time. Particularly if you'd prefer to be working rather than doing the money-saving stuff at home. And, if you would be working for a company, don't forget to count things like matching 401k funds and so forth. You can also play around with tax software. If I earn x amount of money, it's basically a wash due to not saving money at home. But what happens if I put y or z amount of that money into retirement savings with pre-tax dollars? Money put into health savings accounts also comes from pre-tax dollars, you take it with you when you leave the company, and it doesn't expire. 

 

 

Even for my situation, I agree to an extent - that's why I'm doing the weekend class and occasional misc. festivals and workshops, which earn me practically nothing and do take time I could be spending profitably, just to keep my foot in the door. But the flipside is that my family couldn't really spare the work hours in the first place, at this stage, which we didn't know until we tried it. (ugh) So I am limiting the time spent on keeping my foot in the door, because the hypothetical returns in a few years must not be traded for the family's needs now.

I guess for all mothers, it's a constant evaluation of how the balance and investments are all going.

[Jenny in Florida]

I've shared my journey thus far on other threads, but I'll try to give a brief outline here in the name of establishing my credentials to join the group.

[Edited to add: Sorry, this didn't turn out to be "brief" at all.]

I did a couple of years of community college while still in my teens, then quit to get married and move midway across the country. I worked mostly in book retailing and customer service-type jobs for a while, along the way getting divorced and then going back to school. I eventually earned a B.A. in English (super marketable, right?) in the mid-1980s. I worked full time in a string of jobs, none for more than two years at a stretch, for another eight years before having my daughter. I freelanced for another couple of years after that, until I got pregnant with my son and just couldn't muster the energy to keep working. In the meantime, my husband was making big strides in his career and was making almost as much as the two of us had been making combined, so it no longer seemed terrifically important for me to bring in money on top of doing the kid-care and household stuff. 

Over the next couple of decades, I worked part-time on and off, again mostly in retail/customer service jobs, including three years at a theme park, where I worked my way up into doing a little bit of training in addition to my regular duties. But mostly I homeschooled and volunteered in various roles at church and supporting my kids' activities. 

I would have been perfectly happy to continue that "career" for another 15-20 years and then retire for real, but my children insisted on growing up and being academically successful. So, I was forcibly retired when my son graduated and made my role as homeschooler obsolete.

One thing I (thought I) knew for sure was that I absolutely did not want to go back to editing and technical writing, which I had found painfully boring in my pre-kids career. I knew I loved education, but I didn't want to be a full-time classroom teacher. (And I couldn't even if I had wanted to, since I am not certified and, because I have defaulted student loans that prevent me from getting access to my official transcripts, I could not go back to school.) So, in my son's last year of homeschool, while he needed me to be physically and emotionally present to keep him company and on track but did not need (or want) me to do any meaningful, hands-on "teaching," I took the first two online, work-from-home jobs I could scrounge. I started doing general transcription -- which required nothing more than a typing test and a sample that proved I knew how to use correct grammar and punctuation -- and online, on-demand tutoring with Tutor.com. Neither paid even minimum wage, when you actually averaged out the amount of time I spent over my paychecks. And I worked only a few hours a week at each one. (I think my total income that first year was about $2,000.) But they gave me some "recent experience" to list on my resume.

In the meantime, I started taking every free class I could find that related in any way to education or technology. I took a few MOOCs through Coursera and Alison.com, and I brushed up on Microsoft Office with GFCLearnFree and free classes at my county library. 

Once my son actually graduated, I rewrote my resume into a "hybrid" format, summarizing all of my pre-kids work experience into a functional format and listing the current part-time, online work up front with dates and such. I decided to target tutoring centers and sent out my resume to every Huntington, Sylvan and similar strip-mall place in a 15-mile radius from my house. I had multiple inquiries within a week and was working within a month. Again, the money wasn't good -- I started at $10 an hour and worked about 15 hours a week -- but it was a start. I trained to do college entrance exam prep sessions, which earned me another couple of bucks an hour and created more demand for my time. I gave up the transcription work but kept tutoring online, where I moved up in rank, earning more per hour and getting access to more and better hours on the schedule. 

The second year, I think I earned about $8,000.

Over the next year or so, I added and dropped additional part-time gigs, all what I like to refer to as "education adjacent." I scored standardized tests, did a little substitute teaching, tutored a couple of kids in person on a freelance basis, taught online writing and literature classes for homeschoolers . . .

Finally, I got hired by the county library to teach the same adult technology classes I had taken. I started with 24 hours per week, earning 50% more per hour than any of my other jobs paid, which allowed me to drop some of the other side gigs. Less than a year later, I moved up to 32 hours a week, which came with some limited benefits like paid time off and the option of company-subsidized health insurance. At that point, I dropped all of the other jobs except a very few hours a week tutoring online. A few months later, with my husband's encouragement, I quit that, too. And a few months after that, a year and a half after I started working there, I was promoted to full time. Between the additional hours and benefits and annual raises, I am now making something like a living wage (if one were single and lived reasonably frugally). 

So, it's absolutely do-able to get back on a "career" track after decades at home, without spending thousands to go back to college or do other formal retraining. In my case, it took patience and creativity and a willingness to work for very little financial reward in the name of getting something -- anything -- on my resume to serve as a building block. And, truthfully, it's only now, four-plus years into this project that my salary matches what I was making in my last year of full-time work pre-kids . . . assuming we don't adjust for inflation. But, it's progress. And the income I bring in has allowed us to pay our son's college expenses out of pocket, catch up on all kinds of debts that seemed overwhelming and, most excitingly for me, consolidate and rehabilitate those defaulted student loans of mine. I now have access to my official undergraduate transcripts and am in the process of applying to go back to school  (part-time, online) starting this fall. Ironically, I will be earning a graduate certificate in instructional design, but I find that I really enjoy that aspect of my current job and hope to be able to move up to doing more of that when/if a position opens.

I have down days (weeks), but I absolutely agree that I don't regret one day I spent at home with my kids. I (mostly) feel pretty content with having climbed back as far as I have; I'm looking forward to the challenge of school and feeling cautiously optimistic about what I might accomplish in the next 12-15 years.

[Kidlit]

I’m reading and following this thread with great interest.  My oldest dd has decided (with some “encouragement” from her parents ?) that she’s going to give public school a try next year.  We’ve never been completely married to homeschooling forever and ever, amen, though I think in my heart of hearts I wanted to.  Then dd became a teenager and I can see the benefit for everyone of her having someone besides me to answer to. Next year will be her freshman year of high school, so it seems like the time is right.   We have three younger children, the youngest of which is five.  

I am likely also going to go back to work very part time (24 hrs every two weeks) as a public library aide in the next month, too.  I have a MLIS degree but no one (outside of school librarians, which was my last full time job) gets paid for their training in my area. Still, I love public library work, so I think it will be worth it to me.  

I feel like sending my eldest off to public high school is a watershed of sorts for me.   Does this mean everyone will follow?  I don’t know.  I am 44.  I know that life seems a lot shorter to me now than it did when my eldest was the age my baby is now.  I also really see the need to bring in a little money.  Teenagers are expensive!  This past school year was really hard and I ended the year pretty burned out.  I think I can generate enough enthusiasm for a few more years, but I’ll have to dig really deep to see my little guys all the way through to high school.  Full time library work is definitely a future possibility, and it’s something I think I would enjoy.  Still, it makes me really sad to think this fun and fulfilling ride might be coming to an end sooner than I expected.

I’m just trying to stay open to the possibilities and walk through the doors as they open.

It helps that the school system we’ll be a part of is considered among the best in our state. 

 

 

[Soror]

8 hours ago, hopeistheword said:

I’m reading and following this thread with great interest.  My oldest dd has decided (with some “encouragement” from her parents ?) that she’s going to give public school a try next year.  We’ve never been completely married to homeschooling forever and ever, amen, though I think in my heart of hearts I wanted to.  Then dd became a teenager and I can see the benefit for everyone of her having someone besides me to answer to. Next year will be her freshman year of high school, so it seems like the time is right.   We have three younger children, the youngest of which is five.  

I am likely also going to go back to work very part time (24 hrs every two weeks) as a public library aide in the next month, too.  I have a MLIS degree but no one (outside of school librarians, which was my last full time job) gets paid for their training in my area. Still, I love public library work, so I think it will be worth it to me.  

I feel like sending my eldest off to public high school is a watershed of sorts for me.   Does this mean everyone will follow?  I don’t know.  I am 44.  I know that life seems a lot shorter to me now than it did when my eldest was the age my baby is now.  I also really see the need to bring in a little money.  Teenagers are expensive!  This past school year was really hard and I ended the year pretty burned out.  I think I can generate enough enthusiasm for a few more years, but I’ll have to dig really deep to see my little guys all the way through to high school.  Full time library work is definitely a future possibility, and it’s something I think I would enjoy.  Still, it makes me really sad to think this fun and fulfilling ride might be coming to an end sooner than I expected.

I’m just trying to stay open to the possibilities and walk through the doors as they open.

It helps that the school system we’ll be a part of is considered among the best in our state. 

 

 

(hugs) I hope it goes well for your dd. (Fwiw my son that is starting next year is going to PS summer school now as a preparation for regular school and so far, so good)

We are in a VERY similar situation here. My oldest is going to PS this coming year, he's in 8th, I have 3 younger ones- the youngest is 5. A watershed moment puts it quite aptly. My son is the one who decided he wanted to go to school but now my next oldest is already saying she wants to go and I've told her that she can go the following year. My son was the one I really thought would benefit the most from schooling all the way through and if he isn't it changes things. And as you stated teenagers are expensive. Dh's pay has dropped for 3 or 4 years in a row, yet costs keep going up.

[Guest]

On 6/19/2018 at 9:07 AM, Murphy101 said:

I started a club for us and invited everyone who expressed an interest. It's a closed club, so only members are supposed to be able to read posts because I want everyone to feel comfortable being real about this.

sahms transitioning to work force

 

May I request inclusion? 

[Hilltopmom]

I wanted to throw this part out here too- now that I’m back to work teaching, not only do I get out of the house in our community to see a wide range of people much more which has been awesome for me, it’s also really nice to have validation in your work.  And other stuff going on in your life to consider. I’ve been asked to take a different position next year (a “better” one as far as teaching goes, but more difficult for me) and it’s exciting to think about the possibilities for each position and what I can bring to them. Anxiety producing, but exciting.

[Murphy101]

2 hours ago, Quill said:

May I request inclusion? 

Of course. 

[LucyStoner]

A plug for what I do, which is essentially specialized bookkeeping.  Most of my clients only need to see the whites of my eyes 1-2x a month for 2 hours.  Otherwise, I work from home.  Or rather, from my laptop anywhere I want.  Sometimes this work is pretty detailed or a bit tricky (which can be fun for those who like to solve a puzzle) but a lot of the time the tasks are fairly simple and don't take much time to complete.  I can also largely do them when my kids are otherwise occupied with appointments, classes or lessons.  If I bill 50 hours a month, that averages to $2500 gross before I pay self-employment taxes. Minimum wage here would gross me $750 for the same number of hours and it's hard to even find work that part time. When we needed more income, I was able to fairly quickly go into "client acquisition mode" and almost immediately increase my income.  I am meeting with another new client today.  

As a bonus for people learning independently, there are all sorts of free and low-cost classes online to become certified in QuickBooks Online, which is what most of my clients use.  You do not need a degree, but an educational background in business or accounting won't hurt.  My business expenses are low: my laptop, one piece of pricier software, the occasional parking fee and I am pretty much good to go.  Also at least where I live, I don't really have "work clothes" expenses because no one cares what the person helping them with their books is wearing.  I do believe that I earn more because I have a specialized focus and within that specialized focus, it's easier to find new client word of mouth.  

[Matryoshka]

May I also join the club? 

I had a bit of a false start when my older two started high school and then the younger wanted to try school as well... all of a sudden I had nothing to do!  I subbed at the local school and took a course in medical interpreting.   And then the younger one came back home, and a year later one of the high schoolers, and figuring out what to do post-homeschooling went back on the back burner.

Now my older two are in college, and my younger has one year left to go before she's off, but she's mostly doing DE, so I've been trying to figure out what to do next.  I liked subbing okay, but it pays pretty much nothing, and I'd have to keep my days clear of other things to be available.  But I do really enjoy tutoring and teaching small groups - and completely different from what some others have commented - I really like other people's kids!  I've ended up doing a lot with Spanish, and a bit with German, tutoring and teaching small classes.  I started the process to get certified in Phono-graphix, which is what I used to teach my kids to read, so I've also thought of doing that, but haven't actually done much with it yet.  I've been proctoring SATs at a private school.  And this past year I also started working at a homeschool center in their new drop-off program.  I'm happy I think cobbling together a bunch of different kind of things - I like variety.  I have pondered offering online classes - waiting a bit to see how much I can fill my time with local projects...

Anyway, it's still very much a work in progress!

[Tsuga]

I got a master's and learned stats while one kid was still not sleeping through the night. I'd be happy to provide career advice and/or commiseration in such a group.