Reply #38: afford to stay home with children???

[DollyM]

No, of course we couldn't afford it but my son in mildly autistic and has learning delays and the small school he was in did not have the staff or the brains or the desire, to learn how to deal with his issues, so I decided to stay home and home school him. He is now a responsible 18 year old who is doing a volunteer internship with a local vet clinic and has stayed out of trouble as opposed to most of the other kids on the block who have either been arrested, fathered a child, are pregnant or have a child and so forth. I was getting calls several times a week from the school about my son and was trying to work at the same time. It became too stressful and I knew I could do a better job at educating my son that the school because I love him and did the research to try and understand his disabilities, something the school system was not interested in doing. So for me, it was not really a choice. I was working in social services and I couldn't see trying to save everyone else's kid when mine was going down the tubes fast. I created a business to be able to bring in some extra money so it wasn't like a sat around and fed babies all day long. I almost had a GREAT job as a Chamber of Commerce director because of my experience in running my own business, but was beat out by a retired man who had Medicare since the position did not offer health insurance. I imagine they realize they made a mistake by now as the chamber website never gets updated as this man has no concept of technology. So I am just waiting around until he either gets completely overwhelmed or dies, which ever comes first!
Mom's have great skills, whether they run a business or not, it's just that this economy stinks and has for a long time. That is the problem, too many people out of work and too much competition for jobs so employers want who they can get the cheapest. As I said, my husband has great credentials, great experience and a Master's but most employers are afraid he will cost too much so they won't give him a second look. This is also the age group that employers are cutting because they are the ones making the better salaries.