SAHM or Work??

[Shiraz]

Just wondered what you do? and if you like it?

I've just started a new job :crossfing as Hotel Receptionist / Reservations so i work shifts 6.30am-2.30pm or 2.30pm til 11pm. Sounds awful but atleast i get to spend the morning or afternoon with Georgie and two full days a week.

Dp is out of work at the moment after losing his job unfairly (constructive dismissal)..but has offers in the pipeline. :crossfing

I returned to work when dd was 1, but left 6 months later due to dp's working hours and his promotion. I then got a xmas temp job at the end of Nov after his wages were being slashed. My contract was extended on xmas eve and i left them this Saturday although they begged me to stay. But i hated the job imho.

So what do you do?

[weaselgirl]

I'm a senior health care assistant on a general medical ward.It tends to be mostly elderly or young paraplegics etc.I work 16 1/2 hours a week.I do two 5-9.30 shifts in the week and one full shift (either 7.15-3.15 or 1.30-9.30 ) at the weekend.
I love the job but hate having to work weekends, bank holidays and christmas .I've been there for fourteen years and would like to do something other than nursing but nothing else i want to do seems to pay the same rate that i'm on now.

[Katiequiggle]

I work part time as an arts and crafts tutor teaching mainly scrapbooking and card making, along with different techniques like using UTEE (ultra thick embossing enamel) wire work, making altered items and handmade albums etc etc.. I love my job and feel a bit guilty giving in my invoices at the end of each month for payment as I don't actually feel as if I'm at work while I'm there. Because it's a craft studio in my own village and only 3 mins walk away from home, I don't spend any money on travel or parking ect, though I have heard my husband mutter under his breath that they may just as well pay me in credit vouchers lol.

[LisaPink]

Kate your job sounds great!! Im very jealous!! Im not working at the moment, well apart from raising my girls but thats not exactly a job, is it? Its got the long hours & stress of a job, but pays no money!!!! I would like to be doing something, preferably my own business, as it would be nice to do something that gets my brain working again!

[Tinkabell]

I worked full-time as an adminstrator/auditor when I only had eldest dd. Stopped working when second dd came along as could not afford nursery costs.

I enjoy being at home but can sometimes get a bit fed up of same routine. I am now starting my own business, dont want to make millions just a little extra to pay for holidays etc.

Wish I was artistic like you Katie you job sounds cool. My eldest would love doing something like that, she has even set her own website up to show her and her sisters artwork off.

[mum-to-nia]

I work 3 days a week (2 early shifts in the week 8-3.30, and a shift at the weekend) as a staff nurse on a haematology and oncology ward. Can be very depressing but can also be great fun and a lovely place to work!
Went back to work when Nia was 4 months old, and she goes to half day school and nursery the 2 days in the week that i work.
Might.... maybe.... not sure yet.... go back more hours in september when nia starts full time school. Can't really justify being at home whenm nia is in school all day then!

I know what you mean weaslegirl about wanting to do something different. I too dont think i could go anywhere else and get paid what i do now, for working 3 days a week!

[Ruthierhyme]

I work from home and it's challenging!
I was recently asked for (tax credit purposes) how many hours I put in and my answer was a shock to myself!! you don't realise how consuming loving your work can be :-O
I Illustrate and author resources for the Early Years and jumped in feet first to launch an online business, an eye opener all round ... although it's a fantastic job to fit in with term times and 'sick children days' !!!

[Macaroni]

After I had my two children I had 4 years as a sahm exept for a very short stint delvering Yellow pages and another one registering as a childminder just to realise I didnt want to look after other peoples kids LOL

I got a 5 afternoon xmas job at Boots just after DD turned 3 and had started nursery in the afternoon. My then H worked shifts so he could collect them most of the time, my mum and friend split the days he couldnt.

I did enjoy it but wanted to work when I wanted, so I got a saturday job there, and worked in the week as and when required and as and when I wanted/could. The down side was I only got hol pay for the saturdays, I had to work saturdays ( but only half a day) and I didnt get sick pay, but the money and the felxibility was great!

I continued with that until I met my now DH, left my ex and realised that if I worked saturdays Id only have every other sunday with the kids.

So, Ive been a SAHM for ...........4 years , but I would like to get back into work now. The kids are 10 and 11, DS starts secondary school in sept, but its just finding something suitable. I dont have a support network to ask for help, DH works office hours and it wouldnt be worth my while paying out childminding fees !!

I wouldnt change staying at home when they were babies, if you work you miss so much, although it is very isolating, esp when youre not a social person anyway. I appreciated my ex working shifts, it would have been hell if hed worked office hours I just know it.

OOPS its turned into a bit of an essay/life story !! lol

[snowy1974]

I work part time for a company that packs helicopter parts. I do 4 evenings mon-thurs from 5.45-9.I am a multi task operative (very long for can do everything) My main responsibility is the print room... I make labels to go on boxes.

I am supposed to be looking for other work now that both kids are in school but I really enjoy working with the people im with now and having been there for 5 years it will seem like a big upheaval. Dh thinks that i should just take anything that comes along but I want to do something that i enjoy rather than just something that brings in more money.

[Shiraz]

Snowy i know exactly what you mean!

I have been working part-time for argos as a xmas temp..i hated it. Having never worked in Reatial and working with colleagues whom, well without sounding mean are not really my cup of tea. A few of them were lovely but i don't think it helped a job i already hated.

I've qworked in the hotel industry before and this particular hotel is sooooo nice, surrounded by lakes, very relaxing, just an all-round nice atmosphere. Plenty of work to do to keep me busy! Wouldn't say it'll be forever...may even have to move soon depending on what job offers dp gets, but it's lovely for now!

I can see it maybe getting tricky to juggle childcare and two jobs in the near future, but there really wasn't much arond to take and well i fell in love with this job and turned two 9-5's down for it.

I think happiness can play a major part in the job you choose.

I do miss being a SAHM though, all the time i had on my hands to mess with dd, when summer comes i can see myself gazing out the window thinking about all te lovely nature trails we did around our house last year, the summer picnics and lazy days in the pool!

[Daffs]

I went to work part time when Ben was 3 or just 4, stayed there nearly a year and left on maternity leave when I had Lexie. I went back when she was 3 or 4 months old but left as it was too tiring.

I got bored doing nothing and hated not having the extra money so I applied for part time at Tesco in 2004. That lasted about 4 or 5 mnths as again, I got bored and I couldn't cope with the late shift 8-midnight 3 days so I left.

After much deliberating I opened up my own web design business on 1st Jan last year and have been working from home ever since. I hardly ever have time to myself but it's better than coming home at 12.30am in the dark... I love it really but have turned into a workaholic! :unsure:

[bikemad]

Im a sahm atm have been since ds age 6 was born.

If I could id love to begin my own business in portraiture photography but atm we just dont have the cash to make this viable.

[trai]

I'm a sahm and have been since i had ds. I had a part time job a few years ago but had to give that up as dh's shifts made it impossible. I would like to have a part time job but it's finding something suitable that fits in with us.

[Sarah]

I'm a WahMum. I love it but I do far too many hours. I have an ebay store and I've recently launched my first website.
It allows me to stay at home and look after our youngest but I do worry that I don't give her enough time.
Sarah x

[Seren]

I work 4 days a week for an IT services company, I mostly do admin type work and it's ok depending on what they put me on. I didn't have a car loan I would be a sahm as I am enjoying my mat leave this time around and don't want to go back, but until the car is paid off then I can't. I'm planning to take unpaid leave next year to spend more time with the kids so will be saving up for that.

Would love to have my business selling nappies etc but there are loads of people out there already doing that..

[blueberry]

I work full time in corporate communications with the railway company. I work Mondays to Fridays, 8.30am to 5.00pm, and 8.30am to 12.45pm on alternate Saturdays. I honestly don't enjoy this job as much as I enjoyed my previous job (was a journalist before) mainly because it is office-bound and I have a crappy nearing-her-expiry-date woman boss who has the tantrum of a 9-yo's. I'd love to have my own online business and be a wahm but I don't know what to sell :laugh: .

[lisa1980]

i work 4 days a week 11-3pm in a pub after 4 years as a sahm mum and tbh I LOOOOOVVVVEEEE IT:D its quite and easy job the customers are great and the boss isnt so bad

[essexgirl]

i've been a sahm since dd was born 7yrs she was born with a hernia ,cleft palet and pirro robin syndrome so she has a lot off hospital visits it getting less and less now but still waiting on if she needs another operation should no in the summer as the specialist is waiting till shes 8 :crossfing she dosnt
i used to work in a pub and loved it so when dd is sorted im hoping to work behind the bar again:)

[Jen]

My friend and I own and run a pre-school playgroup, we do this 5 mornings a week, one afternoon we do a parent and toddler.
I love every moment of it, and we only open during school terms.
We are at the moment going through the motions of becoming an educational provider group, this will enable us to keep children until they start school.

[kathyhinsh]

I was a SAHM up til 4yrs ago, when I started working 2-3nights per week as an agency Health Care Support worker @ my local hospital, & as of Oct this yr, I'll be a student nurse!

[Shiraz]

It's really intersting to see what everyone does! :yes:

Dp and i will be setting up our business late this year, although i shall only be doing the website and admin/telephone part...he can do the technical and sales bits pmsl!

[angel1980]

I work 4 hours a week as a Home Service Assistant (home help in other words!) for Age Concern, been doing this for the past year but am now looking at doing 16 hours or more, maybe office work, hopefully school receptionist if I get the job. :crossfing

[Shiraz]

Oooh good Luck!!!!!!