Another thing to be aware of is that in handling the elderly, it's not at all unusual for an aide to receive back or other strains. You would be liable for their medical treatment too. Your Home Owners insurance wouldn't cover that either. You should set up a regular payroll account so that anyone that's hurt on the job, even a little injury, will be covered by Workman's Compensation. Your accountant will be able to do all the paperwork involved and make the required reports. Check with him/her before you go into this. Keeping other people in your home is a lot more involved than just getting someone in to help you.

Here's the problem~if you plan to quit, you can't go planning to do all these other life changing things. Buying another house may not be something you can think of now, if money will be tight and you certainly don't want to quit your job, buy a new house and plan a baby all in the same year. You'll be stressed more than you are from work. The biggest stress factors in your life, are changing jobs, getting married (which you've already done), having kids and moving. Some people can handle all that just fine but think about you. Are you okay with changes? I would also stop and think about how important family time is to you. Yes, you'll be home more with the kids during the day but if you're working nights and weekends part time, you won't see your husband all that much. You'll be headed off to work when the kids are heading to activities. You'll be at work most of the weekend while the rest of your family is at home or out doing other stuff. I remember just trying to work part time when I was in high school and how little time I was at home with my parents and brother. I felt left out of the loop. It also was a pain when the weekend came and I didn't get to do anything but head off to work. Try adding children and a husband to the picture instead of parents and the family if you ever worked part time before. My MIL used to work a 3-11pm shift at work and it killed her. She didn't get to see her husband that much. He works swing shift and really she only saw him when he was also on 3-11 (he was home while on 11-7, but in bed sleeping until after she'd go into work). She missed being home for supper, in the evenings just to watch tv, seeing her grandkids and doing things during the week. She felt left out quite often and her husband was very lonely at home alone all the time. Your husband will often be getting the meals and caring for your daughter in the evenings. Can he handle doing that himself? (Not saying he can't but there are men out there who don't help at all and are clueless) The bottome line is the decsion is still totally up to you. You just need to weigh all the facts and decide if you can handle the money situation (it will still be tight if you take a part time job because they don't usually pay all that much and options are limited) and some other changes that will occur. I'm not saying you should not do it but I thought of other things that it seemed others weren't. They were focusing on pretty much all the good aspects but you need to know the bad, too in order to handle this. You can't go into the situation blind. Good luck to you. ~Leslie~

5 days keeps everyone's schedules more dependable and won't require changing existing patterns and habits? That's good for the very young, to be able to have and experience organization and dependable schedules. It's also usually less stressful on parents to not have to shuffle and re-settle into new patterns. 4 days of longer hours will require some shuffling before it gets to feel 'normal' and before it then becomes the new dependable pattern. It will require new duties from your partner in terms of taking the baby to daycare. Is he aware and able to do that? Do you have a choice about Mondays or Fridays to take off, or other days if taking a 4-day work week? You might be able to negotiate a 'trial' of a week or so with your employer so you can get an idea of the physical requirements and whether this kind of schedule is do-able for you (you need your health and sanity as intact as possible). Other issues can be complicated. Do you get a 'free' day to do the things you need to do (the thing to consider is whether, at stressful times, this change would feel like something that is resented). When the adults involved are both sleep-deprived their judgement can be impaired, or their thinking processes relatively slowed or otherwise affected by that lack of sleep. It can seem like, when offered what is felt to be needed (a free day) then of course it would be a good idea. It's harder to predict how one's life would change as a result. (If you end up feeling so overworked those 4 days that you really can't consider that 'free' day as 'free'; then you might a lot more support from your partner. He may not appreciate that, or be naturally adept and providing that as needed. No one benefits much at all if this change causes you to exceed your body's limits in terms of exhaustion and sleep.) deprivation. Basically, spend some time thinking about your own body's patterns. Which kind of work schedule would agree more with your own natural patterns (and why). What considerations are 'pro' and which are 'con' for the change. How sleep-deprived are you both, and how sleep-deprived are you both feeling (that is important because 2 people can have similar degrees of deprivation but one person's functioning might be more impaired by that)? Who will have to do what with the baby's schedule either way (note required changes)? Go through all these kinds of questions for yourself and with reference to your partner and baby. You'll be able to come up with a good idea about whether this change might be worth attempting. you can ask your employer for a trial of this change if you'd like to explore how you might be affected (positively or negatively, or not at all)

If you want to raise your daughter,and especially if you want to have another child, I think you ought to think seriously about staying home, even part time. The reasons you list for continuing to work pale in comparison to the things you gain by staying home to raise your kids. Your house is only 26 years old- that's relatively young for a house. Even after remodeling, is it dangerous or hazardous to live in, or is it a quality of life issue? I think in 50 years, looking back, you'll be much happier if you get to look back on raising your own children, even if it was done in a house that wasn't perfect. Besides, you can move in a few years,once your second child is going into preschool or kindergarten and you're back at work. Maybe at that point you'll be able to find a home in the district you're currently in. Or you may have to switch schools, but as long as you're in the same area, your kids will still be able to see old friends and life will go on. Your quality of life will only be compromised for the first few years. Your husband will probably get a raise or a bonus, and in the meantime, you'll definitely find ways to save money. Eliminating fast food and eating in resturants is a very very easy way to cut down on expenses- at one point, when our son was very young and we were very tired, we found we were spending up to $600 a month just on eating in restaurants and eating lunches out. There will always be things in life that you want, and will be out of reach unless you continue to work. a nicer car, an nicer house,etc. but your kids will only be little once.