To work or not to work?

[Ratatosk]

Different situation, because DS has gone to a daycare center since he was 3 months old -- he's a very social creature and has thrived in that environment. Knowing he was most likely going to be an only child, we wanted him to be able to interact with other children, learn to share, get socialized.

I too feel I'm a better parent, better person if I get some time away from home. I wanted to be able to provide financially for DS' future -- sock money away for the future "just in case", be able to provide for the extras for our son/family -- vacations.. Basically not fret about money.

I sounds as if you've got an excellent opportunity in finding a caregiver who will come to your home to help alleviate some of your fears.

 

[Ratatosk]

Different situation, because DS has gone to a daycare center since he was 3 months old -- he's a very social creature and has thrived in that environment. Knowing he was most likely going to be an only child, we wanted him to be able to interact with other children, learn to share, get socialized.

I too feel I'm a better parent, better person if I get some time away from home. I wanted to be able to provide financially for DS' future -- sock money away for the future "just in case", be able to provide for the extras for our son/family -- vacations.. Basically not fret about money.

I sounds as if you've got an excellent opportunity in finding a caregiver who will come to your home to help alleviate some of your fears.

 

[Ratatosk]

Different situation, because DS has gone to a daycare center since he was 3 months old -- he's a very social creature and has thrived in that environment. Knowing he was most likely going to be an only child, we wanted him to be able to interact with other children, learn to share, get socialized.

I too feel I'm a better parent, better person if I get some time away from home. I wanted to be able to provide financially for DS' future -- sock money away for the future "just in case", be able to provide for the extras for our son/family -- vacations.. Basically not fret about money.

I sounds as if you've got an excellent opportunity in finding a caregiver who will come to your home to help alleviate some of your fears.

 

[Ratatosk]

Different situation, because DS has gone to a daycare center since he was 3 months old -- he's a very social creature and has thrived in that environment. Knowing he was most likely going to be an only child, we wanted him to be able to interact with other children, learn to share, get socialized.

I too feel I'm a better parent, better person if I get some time away from home. I wanted to be able to provide financially for DS' future -- sock money away for the future "just in case", be able to provide for the extras for our son/family -- vacations.. Basically not fret about money.

I sounds as if you've got an excellent opportunity in finding a caregiver who will come to your home to help alleviate some of your fears.

 

[Ratatosk]

Different situation, because DS has gone to a daycare center since he was 3 months old -- he's a very social creature and has thrived in that environment. Knowing he was most likely going to be an only child, we wanted him to be able to interact with other children, learn to share, get socialized.
<br />
<br />I too feel I'm a better parent, better person if I get some time away from home. I wanted to be able to provide financially for DS' future -- sock money away for the future "just in case", be able to provide for the extras for our son/family -- vacations.. Basically not fret about money.
<br />
<br />I sounds as if you've got an excellent opportunity in finding a caregiver who will come to your home to help alleviate some of your fears.

 

[Juliet]

Edit - Didn't realize you wanted answers from parents of CF kids. The issue of daycare or home still exists even if the kid doesn't have CF.

It's a tough decision. I went back to work. I seriously thought about the stay at home Mom thing, and even tried it for a while. But after 2 months at home I was going crazy. I needed the adult interaction, the technical discussions, the challenges of engineering. I've been working full time ever since. Fortunately my employer is extremely flexible, allowing me to work from home and telecommuting when needed. Now that I have CF the flexibility is also a necessity! While I'm still trying to get my work schedule back to something more like 40 hours a week, they are flexible. I think telling my boss I needed 2 weeks leave for IV abx really sent the message home. He didn't realize that I've been battling reducing lung function and lung crud as much as I have the past 2 years. As we all know unless you're coughing your head off it's pretty easy to hide CF. Heck I didn't even know I had it until earlier this year!

Having a flexible employer is important to maintain a good balance of being home when school things need me but let me keep my career going too. Afterall in about 5 years my 'baby' will be flying out of the nest and off to college - assuming things keep going well! I definitely need a career. Plus I think it sets a good role model for the children. ~Juliet

 

[Juliet]

Edit - Didn't realize you wanted answers from parents of CF kids. The issue of daycare or home still exists even if the kid doesn't have CF.

It's a tough decision. I went back to work. I seriously thought about the stay at home Mom thing, and even tried it for a while. But after 2 months at home I was going crazy. I needed the adult interaction, the technical discussions, the challenges of engineering. I've been working full time ever since. Fortunately my employer is extremely flexible, allowing me to work from home and telecommuting when needed. Now that I have CF the flexibility is also a necessity! While I'm still trying to get my work schedule back to something more like 40 hours a week, they are flexible. I think telling my boss I needed 2 weeks leave for IV abx really sent the message home. He didn't realize that I've been battling reducing lung function and lung crud as much as I have the past 2 years. As we all know unless you're coughing your head off it's pretty easy to hide CF. Heck I didn't even know I had it until earlier this year!

Having a flexible employer is important to maintain a good balance of being home when school things need me but let me keep my career going too. Afterall in about 5 years my 'baby' will be flying out of the nest and off to college - assuming things keep going well! I definitely need a career. Plus I think it sets a good role model for the children. ~Juliet

 

[Juliet]

Edit - Didn't realize you wanted answers from parents of CF kids. The issue of daycare or home still exists even if the kid doesn't have CF.

It's a tough decision. I went back to work. I seriously thought about the stay at home Mom thing, and even tried it for a while. But after 2 months at home I was going crazy. I needed the adult interaction, the technical discussions, the challenges of engineering. I've been working full time ever since. Fortunately my employer is extremely flexible, allowing me to work from home and telecommuting when needed. Now that I have CF the flexibility is also a necessity! While I'm still trying to get my work schedule back to something more like 40 hours a week, they are flexible. I think telling my boss I needed 2 weeks leave for IV abx really sent the message home. He didn't realize that I've been battling reducing lung function and lung crud as much as I have the past 2 years. As we all know unless you're coughing your head off it's pretty easy to hide CF. Heck I didn't even know I had it until earlier this year!

Having a flexible employer is important to maintain a good balance of being home when school things need me but let me keep my career going too. Afterall in about 5 years my 'baby' will be flying out of the nest and off to college - assuming things keep going well! I definitely need a career. Plus I think it sets a good role model for the children. ~Juliet

 

[Juliet]

Edit - Didn't realize you wanted answers from parents of CF kids. The issue of daycare or home still exists even if the kid doesn't have CF.

It's a tough decision. I went back to work. I seriously thought about the stay at home Mom thing, and even tried it for a while. But after 2 months at home I was going crazy. I needed the adult interaction, the technical discussions, the challenges of engineering. I've been working full time ever since. Fortunately my employer is extremely flexible, allowing me to work from home and telecommuting when needed. Now that I have CF the flexibility is also a necessity! While I'm still trying to get my work schedule back to something more like 40 hours a week, they are flexible. I think telling my boss I needed 2 weeks leave for IV abx really sent the message home. He didn't realize that I've been battling reducing lung function and lung crud as much as I have the past 2 years. As we all know unless you're coughing your head off it's pretty easy to hide CF. Heck I didn't even know I had it until earlier this year!

Having a flexible employer is important to maintain a good balance of being home when school things need me but let me keep my career going too. Afterall in about 5 years my 'baby' will be flying out of the nest and off to college - assuming things keep going well! I definitely need a career. Plus I think it sets a good role model for the children. ~Juliet

 

[Juliet]

Edit - Didn't realize you wanted answers from parents of CF kids. The issue of daycare or home still exists even if the kid doesn't have CF.
<br />
<br />It's a tough decision. I went back to work. I seriously thought about the stay at home Mom thing, and even tried it for a while. But after 2 months at home I was going crazy. I needed the adult interaction, the technical discussions, the challenges of engineering. I've been working full time ever since. Fortunately my employer is extremely flexible, allowing me to work from home and telecommuting when needed. Now that I have CF the flexibility is also a necessity! While I'm still trying to get my work schedule back to something more like 40 hours a week, they are flexible. I think telling my boss I needed 2 weeks leave for IV abx really sent the message home. He didn't realize that I've been battling reducing lung function and lung crud as much as I have the past 2 years. As we all know unless you're coughing your head off it's pretty easy to hide CF. Heck I didn't even know I had it until earlier this year!
<br />
<br />Having a flexible employer is important to maintain a good balance of being home when school things need me but let me keep my career going too. Afterall in about 5 years my 'baby' will be flying out of the nest and off to college - assuming things keep going well! I definitely need a career. Plus I think it sets a good role model for the children. ~Juliet

 

[MicheleGazelle]

I didn't get a full-time paid job until my son wcf was 19. However, I did often do volunteer work and attended college part-time on and off. Since it's not full-time, you probably have flexibility for handling the things you really need to handle. My oldest has relatively mild CF but a long list of other handicaps. I wasn't able to pursue paid work because I also have CF and neither of us was diagnosed until late in life. I think I could have done more with a proper diagnosis and treatment instead of limping along, coping as best I could, while people acted like I was a hypochondriac and neurotic mother.

 

[MicheleGazelle]

I didn't get a full-time paid job until my son wcf was 19. However, I did often do volunteer work and attended college part-time on and off. Since it's not full-time, you probably have flexibility for handling the things you really need to handle. My oldest has relatively mild CF but a long list of other handicaps. I wasn't able to pursue paid work because I also have CF and neither of us was diagnosed until late in life. I think I could have done more with a proper diagnosis and treatment instead of limping along, coping as best I could, while people acted like I was a hypochondriac and neurotic mother.

 

[MicheleGazelle]

I didn't get a full-time paid job until my son wcf was 19. However, I did often do volunteer work and attended college part-time on and off. Since it's not full-time, you probably have flexibility for handling the things you really need to handle. My oldest has relatively mild CF but a long list of other handicaps. I wasn't able to pursue paid work because I also have CF and neither of us was diagnosed until late in life. I think I could have done more with a proper diagnosis and treatment instead of limping along, coping as best I could, while people acted like I was a hypochondriac and neurotic mother.

 

[MicheleGazelle]

I didn't get a full-time paid job until my son wcf was 19. However, I did often do volunteer work and attended college part-time on and off. Since it's not full-time, you probably have flexibility for handling the things you really need to handle. My oldest has relatively mild CF but a long list of other handicaps. I wasn't able to pursue paid work because I also have CF and neither of us was diagnosed until late in life. I think I could have done more with a proper diagnosis and treatment instead of limping along, coping as best I could, while people acted like I was a hypochondriac and neurotic mother.

 

[MicheleGazelle]

I didn't get a full-time paid job until my son wcf was 19. However, I did often do volunteer work and attended college part-time on and off. Since it's not full-time, you probably have flexibility for handling the things you really need to handle. My oldest has relatively mild CF but a long list of other handicaps. I wasn't able to pursue paid work because I also have CF and neither of us was diagnosed until late in life. I think I could have done more with a proper diagnosis and treatment instead of limping along, coping as best I could, while people acted like I was a hypochondriac and neurotic mother.