To work or not. . .

My husband and I decided together that I would be a stay at home mom. And we're able to only do so only cos' we can live on one paycheck. It's not easy though cos' it's almost like paycheck to paycheck. But we're willing to make the sacrifices so I can stay home with my kid for now. It really depends on your financial situation. If you feel you can survive comfortably on one income, then I would strongly encourage you to spend some more time with your child while he/she is still young. No one can take care of your child better than yourself. And they grow up SO quickly!! Plus, where we live now, it's not easy for me to get a job. And I can't find a job that pays me enough to justify the time I will spend away from my son. By the time I deduct taxes, daycare costs, gas and food money, etc, I would be left with a small amount. It's just not worth it.

It will boil down to financial capacity jtwade. If husband's income can compensate for the growing family's everyday needs and more, you might wanna consider choosing to take care of the baby at least while he/she is too young to leave alone with a baby sitter. Then again you might not wanna sacrifice your career away. Whatever your decision will be, do it for the baby... then you'll never go wrong. Cheers!

We are very lucky and can afford for me to stay at home right now. I will go back to work at some point but everyone thought it was best (including me) for me to stay at home and take care of the kids. I just felt that my kids would benefit from me being around them and caring for them b/c after all, I am one of the ones that is closes to them and would do anything in the world for them. I also wanted to be the one to see their milestones and watch them grow and really work on anything if need be, take them to classes and play with them. I really think they have benefitted. No matter how good a caregiver is, I just really don't think they have the love you have for your child.

When a baby arrives into our small world, suddenly the world will become very big and happiness surrounds us from all sides. At the same time, the expenditure too will be fourfold. Hence to bring up the child with good comforts and give it a decent education, I started going to work. When extra income comes, we need not struggle for the sudden budget upheavals.