[jonkam]

Hi, I am new here. My husband and I have 2 internationally adopted children 41/2 and 2 y.o.. We are now taking our PRIDE classes, they will end Nov. 28. We would like to foster/adopt. I currently am working, but am hoping to be able to leave my employment in April 2006. Sorry for babbling. I am curious how many sah? For the folks that work do you find it difficult with multiple children?

Thanks, Beth

[mckenna]

i am a single foster adopt mom of 2 children ages 4 and 9 months. i work outside of the home. my son attends pre-k and there is a before and after school program on sight. my fdaughter is at another daycare. i know have 2 drop off and pick up spots but it is not too bad. my house is generally a mess and i sleeep well at night. but i love being a mom to these two kids and once you get a routine down. it gets easier! good luck with your foster care!!!

[AmyAnne]

I am a stay at home mom.

[Cobb]

Stay at home mom here too...

[TexasJingles]

We both work...and our hours don't always match up (rarely).

I take the kids to school, they do after-school care, I pick them up, do scouts and church & classes with them. Dh helps when he's off (he'll get them up for me).

It gets a bit hectic, especially during baseball season (3 kids, all in different leagues!), but like someone said, once you get the routine down, it works.

[jackiesbooks]

I work - My husband is disabled and is the stay at home parent.

[Withay]

I am single and currently stay at home. I am studying (correspondence) to facilitate a career change. The company I worked for for 7 years folded 03/31/05. I had worked at home for them since the previous June.

My plan is to be able to work from home once I finish my courses (Medical Transcription). I primarily have infants and toddlers so staying home is nice.

Like mckenna said, my house is generally a mess (actually just my room and the dining room). I've just got to get a storage unit in my backyard and then I can clean my room and get my sewing and quilting out of the dining room.

Blessings,
Dbl L

[waiting home]

We both work. Always have even when the kids were babies. My husband owns his own business and I carry the insurance. If we don't go to work, we are in big trouble.

We have three bios 15, 13, and 10.

We've had mostly young teen placements but briefly had 3-year-old twins (YIKES . . . they were a handful).

It's just like anything else. You get used to it. We are not organized people by any stretch of the imagination. With the older kids, the house it generally "picked up" but the laundry will be the death of us. We just can never get a handle on it all.

Every family has their own normal. But it usually looks crazy to everyone else. Oh well . . . ya do what ya gotta do, right?

[Kate1129]

Stay at Home Mom here

[Michelle 053002]

I'm SAHM and love it. Quit my job the day we got the call to pick up Fiona, I HATED that job so it was easy to quit

[yanknrebel]

I am a SAHM. I quit one week after we got our first placement. SHe was a newborn straight from the hospital. I had waited SOOO long to have a baby in my home and I had already wanted to quit my job, so it was easy as well. I took advantage of my FMLA, took off 12 weeks. Just before I was to return to work, I found out I was pregnant.However it was another ectopic (I had a bilateral one in 97 where I lost twins). SO I got another 6 weeks off. My job was thrid shift were we were required to work 10 hours a day most days. I KNEW I would not be able to handle staying awake all day with a baby. I was SOO glad to quit and e that sahm. We have since adopted her and also have a set of 19 month old twins (boy/girl ) we will be adopting soon. SO with a 3 year old and a set of 19 month olds, there is NO WAY I could afford to pay childcare. LOL

[mallory4]

I'm a sahm who works parttime. I have four kids ages 11 to 1. I homeschool the older three kids, and I work one afternoon/evening a week at one job and another 10 hours per month at another.
Lots of people ask how I can stand to have the jobs when there is already so much to do with all the tots. As I tell them, when I am at work, I am sitting in a cushy chair at a clean desk in a clean office --right down the hall from a machine full of ice cold pepsi! I can chat with other grownups, no one wants me to breastfeed them or change their diapers or insert batteries into anything. My job is really like time off!

The key for me is organization. Lots of ladies swear by the flylady system, and I do use parts of that...my house was messier when the kids were younger and I had to get used to that. Now they are ablebodied, only their room is a mess

[nursie]

I am a SAHM now but was working PT evenings (tag teaming with husband who works days) until I took a sib group of 3 that brought my kid count to 6, 4 under 4 and in diapers.
I just couldn't see going to work in the evenings and trying to take care of kids when I wasn't at work. The sheer number and needs of the children were too great.
I had a good laugh at mallory4's comments about work being like time off tho !! I can relate to that.
I actually enjoyed the 30 min drive to work also with peace and quiet in my car. Adult conversation is crucial too. I too TRY to follow flylady and most of the time it consists of 5 minute room rescues all day long but you know what they say, a little is better than nothing at all.
It IS amazing what I can accomplish in 5 min. and I feel less overwhelmed if I can at least get something done besides crowd control with the kids.
Sometimes I think going back to work would be easier than staying home with kids. Being a mom is a challenging job but does have lots and lots of rewards i.e.hugs and kisses.

[tabby]

Stay at home mom.

Tabitha
fs 4 months
fs 4 months
fd 2

[mcnh63]

We are going through our homestudy right now but my Husband is going to be a SAHD ! God bless him!!!!!