Quote Originally Posted by Skysue View Post
Ladies I'm happy for you that you don't need to work. Some of us do it does suck at times when we need to bend a bit to make a dollar, such is life!
I need to work hon - I just do not need to be FULL - my point is that if I had to be full with five clients ALL THE TIME to make this business a viable one and in order to be full I had to work wonky hours or deal with disrespectful clients who treat me like crap cause I cannot afford to 'terminate' them than I would not have chosen to do home childcare because IMO it is not a realistic expectation and is not a healthy way to live for yourself or your family who are also affected because you are bringing that work 'home' to them or the children of the clients you serve .... I work in order to LIVE but I am not willing to work at the expense of my LIFE ... kwim? I chose to work from home to create work life balance and reduce 'stress' in my life for my health - that came with financial sacrifices for sure to make that investment in myself and our family!

We downsized our home and mortgage and made other financial sacrifices in order for me to be home and have that 'buffer' in the business of not being full because going into this I knew it was not realistic I would be 'full' all the time ... if my spouse had not supported that decision and expected us to stay with the same lifestyle we had prior to this choice I would not have made the move to being self employed because the stress it would have placed on myself and my family would not have 'benefited' us!

I think sometimes we 'forget' why we choose to stay home in the first place ... most of us have chosen this because we want to be home raising our own children and that is an 'investment' that comes with financial sacrifices - but it also comes with emotional ones when we choose to do CHILDCARE OF OTHERS because we are already asking our families to share their home and mom for a normal 'work day' and the more hours we do that the less of US they actually feel they have ... my family is supportive because we were able to work to plan that the daycare poses the 'least' imposition on their lives - I do not open until my spouse has left for work so he can 'relax' as he gets ready in the morning cause that is not his best time of day for example and I do not work past 5 so we can have a 'family dinner' before heading into evening events ... so I know they would resent if they had to share me for 12 or more hours a day and the behaviour and stress that would come with that is not worth the extra $$$ it might bring!

I remember that in 2004 before I moved in with my spouse I lived a fairly enjoyable life on a wage of less than $24,000 a year ... had a roof over my head, food in my belly, ugly but reliable car to get me around to places and some left over for 'extras' like entertainment 'out' not a lot but some ... yet I had peers with a spouse who combined made $70,000 a year and were drowning in DEBT .... use to boggle my mind how they could not make 'ends meet' with that kind of money??? IMO they spent more than they required on EXTRAS for a roof over their head - my one peer had a 5 bedroom home and NO KIDS yet, food in their belly eating out a lot and buying 'prepared' foods at the store and their car to get them around were all 'high end' things that did not meet their need any 'better' but added STRESS to their lives and than too top it all off they were so 'stressed' they needed 'vacations' which they put on their CREDIT cause they were so much in debt .... just made me shake my head

As a society we have lost touch with what we TRULY need to be successful in life verses what we THINK we need to be considered successful in our lives!

At the end of your days when you think back on your life you do not remember THINGS in your life you remember the PEOPLE who were in it and yet we spend more of our week WORKING away from the people who truly MATTER in our lives????