I would love to be a SAHM. I know it’s hard work, but I would be happy to do it full time. However, leaving my job means more than losing my salary, which we do need to maintain our current lifestyle. I would also lose my fantastic health and retirement benefits, not to mention that it is hard to get back into the workforce once you leave for several years; if I got sick of staying home one day, it might be very challenging to find a job again. So, I work. Is it hard to be a working mom? Yes, but I know it could be so much harder. Here are some pros and cons I have discovered for being a teacher and a mom.

Pro: Time Off

When I decided I wanted to be a teacher (I think I always knew, but I was pretty sure by the time I was in high school and then very sure I wanted to teach high school once I was in college), one of the main reasons was that I wanted the flexible schedule that teaching allows because I wanted to be around for my future children as much as possible. I always knew I wanted a family and since my mom was a restaurant manager and had very little time off, I wanted to choose a career that would allow me to have all the major holidays off, as well as being home for the same extended breaks that they would have when they started school. I get two months off in the summer, one week at Thanksgiving, three weeks at Christmas, and a week at Easter.

Con: Hard to Volunteer

The other side of this coin is that since I also follow the school year schedule, it’s harder for me to take time off to volunteer in his classroom or attend class parties and performances. Since teachers have so much time off, we are discouraged from taking more days off throughout the year unless it’s absolutely necessary. I can’t just come to work late one day and stay a little later to make up for it. If I’m going to be late or leave early, I have to arrange for my classes to be covered during that time. Liam started preschool this year and somehow I became a room parent. This is something I’ve always wanted to do, but it has been challenging to fulfill those responsibilities as a WOHM.

Pro: Hours

I am home by 4pm everyday. I get so much time with Liam in the afternoon and early evenings so that I don’t feel like I’m missing out on him growing up. I also get to see him in the morning when he wakes up around 7am, which is a great start to my day. I always have the weekends off so that time is for our family, too.

ADVERTISEMENT
Con: Grading and Planning

Teachers have great hours, but really we do a lot outside of those hours to prepare lessons and grade papers. Before I had Liam, I would stay at work until 5pm some days and do more grading at home and on the weekends. Now, I try to get as much of that done within my working hours because it is so hard to work at home with a baby or toddler. The second I take out the laptop to grade papers (we grade essays online), he wants to play on it or push buttons. It’s almost impossible to work when he’s awake and once he goes to bed, I’m exhausted and ready for bed, too. Especially now that I’m pregnant, I try to get as much rest as I can while he’s sleeping, which means I have less time to devote to work. Basically, I’ve learned that I can’t do it all. Something has to give, so I do my best and try not to be too hard on myself.

Pro: Benefits

As a teacher, I get really great health and retirement benefits. I get full medical, dental, and vision for my whole family and nothing is deducted out of my paycheck for the plans I have selected. I have low co-pays for office visits and prescriptions and, perhaps one of the biggest benefits for me right now, I don’t have to pay a dime when I have a baby. The whole entire thing, from ultrasounds to the hospital stay, is completely covered. We do have to pay more for dental visits and procedures, but it’s definitely better than if we didn’t have coverage. As for retirement, if I work until I’m 60, I will get whatever I made during my highest paid year (our salary can fluctuate if we pick up extra classes or coach a team, for example), every year for the rest of my life. I also pay into a separate 403B account, which is similar to a 401K, so I have an extra cushion in case I want to retire early and I don’t get my full pension. We are also able to use a childcare FSA for Liam’s preschool, which saves us a bit of money each year. Another benefit I was able to receive was that a portion of my student loans were paid off during my first 5 years of teaching through the APLE program. I still have a lot more to go, but it was very nice to receive that benefit.

Con: Exposure

We teachers joke that if any super contagious disease ever spread, we would be the first to get it. We come in contact with so many people on a daily basis – people that might not have the best hygiene, given their ages, that we tend to get sick a lot. I am already someone who is more likely to get sick than others, so I end up getting several cold-type viruses every year. Now that I have Liam, I try not to take my sick days if it’s just me that’s sick because staying home doesn’t necessarily mean I get to rest all day, but I do take them if I feel I need to.

Pro: New Every Year

One thing that I didn’t consider when choosing to become a teacher, but that has become a big plus for my job, is that it changes every year. I usually don’t teach the same exact grade or course levels each year, so I’m always trying new things with my classes. I have new students every year, so it’s almost like my co-workers change annually, as I don’t work side by side with other teachers each day.

Con: Little Adult Interaction

I work with kids (teenagers, but still kids in many ways) all day, rarely talk to adults, then come home to be with Liam. It’s hard to have very little adult interaction all day and sometimes I feel bad when my husband comes home and I can’t stop talking. It’s like the floodgates open and I can finally talk about grown up things. I am sometimes envious of my friends who have jobs where they get to interact with other adults all day. My husband has so much fun goofing off with his coworkers and taking clients out to lunch. I eat at my desk, grading or planning, often with students in the room.

.  .  .  .  .

Overall, I feel very lucky to be in the position I am in. Not only do I have great benefits, but I have a lot of time off to be with my family. My husband works slightly longer hours than I do, and has a much longer commute, but he is very helpful around the house and with Liam. Even though I would love to be a SAHM, I picked this career for a reason and I know that working is what is best for myself and our family.

What are the pros and cons of your chosen field as a working parent?