In our case we both worked until son#1 was 19 months old. We hated how far we were from our families and that our son didn't know them. 8 hrs from DH's family and 5 from mine. DH is much more marketable than I am - so when a job opportunity came up that would put us 4 hours from both and was a great position we jumped at it. I became a sahm with that move. Trying to find a job and reliable daycare in a small town was very difficult. We took the opportunity to buy a house we could afford on his salary alone. Had son #2. Moved again. Had son #3. Moved again.
DH would actually have been the better stay at home parent. He keeps house better. He's more organized. But his degree and the fact that he's smarter than s--t! means he could make way more money.
One of my dad's best friends was a stay at home dad - for the same reason I was. So I grew up knowing one - and my dad is 69, so his friend was an unusual.
I now know many sahds. With the current economy I expect that it will become less unusual. Day care is very expensive. My neighbor was in construction. He picks up side work when he can. But the rest of the time he's the one getting kiddo#1 on the bus and taking care of their 3 yr old. If he can get a job he's got another neighbor who helps out with cheap temp daycare. Best of both worlds all around.
I'm sure AfterGlow didn't realize his/her words could be taken as a slur. It's a changing world. Like automatically assuming that when someone writes about their wife - that the writer is male. Today it could be a male or female. I'm a firm believer in doing what works for your family. It takes a lot of trust and team work. In the long run the kids don't care who put them on the bus or fed them breakfast. They just care that it happened.
Thank you, haha. I didn't mean it as a slur, honestly being a stay-at-home-dad would probably balance out the child's stronger attachment to the mother and make the relationship between father a child all the better.
