Working Parents - How much quality time do you get weekdays?

[mummy of 2]

tamarind:

foreverj:

hehe thanks


actually looking at the mummies share their thoughts of switching to part-time work when the kids go to p1 set me thinking. i think its good for my dd to come home to her mummy after school when she reach pri school. so i have to start planning how i can achieve that, eg. by running a home-based business or something. i have 3 years to do something abt it.

another way is to find a full-time job n put her in a good student care. during holidays stil got someone to care for her, but i can try to reserve my leave for her holidays :love:

Yes as mommies we really need to plan far in advance. I heard of mommies who save up enough money to \"retire\" once they have babies, so they can remain financially independent. I should have done so too.

I wish I had done so too. But I guess not every job will allow one to retire so young, no matter how hard you save.

[foreverj]

yup, for my case, we didn’t plan for a kid. so it happened when i was stil fairly young. not possible to have earned enough money for retirement…

[mummy of 2]

foreverj:

yup, for my case, we didn't plan for a kid. so it happened when i was stil fairly young. not possible to have earned enough money for retirement...

Even now I have not earned enuff for retirement. Maybe another 10-15 years :xedfingers:

[foreverj]

anyway, when the kids are grown up, dun we still want to keep ourselves relevant and useful? thats y my dh wants me to work, even part-time now also good. cos he worried when my dd grows up and has her own life, i wil be very lonely... i agree with him. maybe becos our current generation is generally more educated and has more options than our parents, we tend to like to see n think very far.

[mummy of 2]

foreverj:

anyway, when the kids are grown up, dun we still want to keep ourselves relevant and useful? thats y my dh wants me to work, even part-time now also good. cos he worried when my dd grows up and has her own life, i wil be very lonely... i agree with him. maybe becos our current generation is generally more educated and has more options than our parents, we tend to like to see n think very far.

True that when our kids grow older, we will still want to keep ourselves occupied. But I don't think that working is the only option.

I guess it all boils down to our reason for working. For now, it's to give my kids a better standard of living. If I'm working for personal fulfillment, then I will be more than happy to continue for as long as I can work.

[tamarind]

It is true that few people can work to save enough money for retirement before age 35, after which it is not safe to have babies any more. My SIL had her babies at age 38 and 39, but I don’t know how much she has saved.


What I meant was to save enough money to last for about 10 years, after which the kids are old enough and mommy can go back to work.

Of course it depends on what kind of jobs the mommy is looking for. For those with engineering degrees, then we can forget about getting a job as a engineer at age 40. Other professions like teaching, secretary, accounts may be easier.

[mummy of 2]

tamarind:

It is true that few people can work to save enough money for retirement before age 35, after which it is not safe to have babies any more. My SIL had her babies at age 38 and 39, but I don't know how much she has saved.


What I meant was to save enough money to last for about 10 years, after which the kids are old enough and mommy can go back to work.

Of course it depends on what kind of jobs the mommy is looking for. For those with engineering degrees, then we can forget about getting a job as a engineer at age 40. Other professions like teaching, secretary, accounts may be easier.

I won't feel comfortable quitting my job if I only have enough savings to last for 10 years. I will be worried that I can't find a job after my savings run out

That's just me. I saluate the SAHMs who are brave enough to take the risk.

[tamarind]

I guess we have to compare the risk of not finding the right people to look after our kids and putting them in danger, with the risk of not having enough money after the savings run out. All the planning should be done before we even have kids. Those mommies who are not worried about money, most likely have husbands who have stable or high income


Actually if we don't mind any job, it should not be difficult to find, there are many job vacancies in the service sector.

[foreverj]

would like to share something i realised from seeing a colleague who came back to work after her children are all grown up to 20s. at age 50, she finished a master’s degree and worked for a while in the dept i wk. unfortunately, i c that she can’t really mix with the rest of us cos we r like 20s to early 30s. seeing her i realised by the time i want to go back to full-time job when my dd all grown up, my peers all senior management already. but i m only qualified to work under them and my supposedly peers would be my dd’s age or slightly older. i told myself i dun want to b like her lor. so really gotta plan early as to wat i want for my own life.

[mummy of 2]

hi foreverj


Thanks for your sharing. The part about peers moving on did not cross my mind till you pointed it out. I guess every decision has its pros and cons. Really must think carefully before we make any decision.

I guess I will only be willing to quit my job, if I can be sure that I don’t ever have to work for the money again.