Ah, income....

I always wanted to be a mum. Always.

I’ve never really had a career, just various jobs. And I’ve never loved them. I’ve had some great bosses, and heck, I’ve had some great jobs, but be it a few months or a few years down the road I’m restless, anxious and dreading Monday morning. I thought everyone was like that, but I hear some people like their jobs, not just their coworkers and the paycheque they bring home.

So having my son Oliver last May was great. He’s way more work than I thought he’d be (and I knew he’d be work). It started with the refusal to nap, carried on with his refusal to be put down and while it’s gotten a bit better I’m still exhausted at the end of the day.


Living in Victoria isn’t cheap, so being a one income family isn’t an option for us. I started working part-time for a company based in Alberta a little while back. I do the work while Oliver naps (nap strikes are over for the most part now) and in the evenings. It’s hard. Not the work itself, but being a stay at home is a full time job and adding in a part-time job makes it harder, especially without a whole lot of separation between home and work. I pick my own hours, listen to music or have the tv on in the background while I work and I get to play with my son when he’s awake. It’s a good gig and since I do it all online and have lost the people component I’m happier than at previous jobs (I’m not a people person it would seem). Of course, I haven’t been doing it long and things can change.

Problem is, without the people component I also don’t have co-workers I like and get to chat to. My whole world is in the four walls of my house (we get out to play dates and I still see friends, but I’m talking lunch in the break room and walking up to the coffee shop without a baby in your arms). Also, since my job isn’t based on sitting at a desk between 8am and 4pm, if I don’t have work to do, I don’t get paid… like today when I find myself feeling rather useless. I’ve made pizza dough, I’ve taken my son swimming and I’ve tidied up the kitchen, but I don’t feel I’ve contributed, especially financially.

So what happens when you have an out of the blue phone call with your previous employer offering you a job? The pay is pretty close, about a dollar an hour difference. Part time or full time? Well, hey, that’d be up to me! Coworkers, lunch breaks, people thinking I actually work (people don’t get that when you work from home). It’s all pretty appealing…

Except that I’d miss time with Oliver. I’d have to leave him with someone else.
I’d have to frantically find daycare. I’d have to pay for parking and buy more gas. I’d have to know and care what time it is since I’d have places to be. I’d also have to work more to pay for daycare.

And if I kept this little p/t gig at home? Well, the hours may not be as stable… but I wouldn’t have to hand over most of my paycheque to daycare, which means I wouldn’t have to work more than I am. I’d also get to keep taking my son to the playground and to the pool.

When you get random news like this, it isn’t by chance. So I have to ask myself, am I being offered this opportunity because I should take it? Or am I being offered it so I am really choosing to be a stay-at-home mum who work a little from home?

What’s a mum to do?

I think the answer is looking obvious, but what do you think?