Popular Question #2

How do you like staying at home?
This is usually said in a positive voice expecting an answer from me of how great it is to be home.
Except I don’t have a positive answer for them.  I don’t love it.  I don’t hate it.  Which always puts me in limbo about what I want to do.  I joke with most people that I will stay at home until I go insane or we go broke.  Except the financially responsible person in me says I won’t wait until we go broke to go back to work.  And the insanity issue, well that depends on the day.  Most days are good, but some days, I am already there.  Being insane that is.
So then I think about doing something from home that will allow my hours to be more flexible.  But it’s hard to justify doing something that would make 1/4 of what I could make in my field.  Plus I had all the schooling, and testing, and on-going licensing requirements to be an engineer.  I’m not sure I want to throw that away.
And staying home definitely has it’s perks.  I get to enjoy the kids, plus I have time to do all my side projects.  And I don’t have to get ready in the morning.  But I still have to get Bella ready in the morning, and that’s almost worse.
Really truly, one of the best things about me being home, is not having to schedule all of Bella’s appointments around work.  Not feeling guilty when I have to leave work to attend something of Bella’s.  But really that just means I am holding myself back from working because my daughter has to attend more appointments than most.  It’s not really a positive to staying home, just a sacrifice I have to make for Bella.
So I don’t know what the right answer will be for me as far as work/staying home.  If only you could actually get paid for staying home and taking care of your kids, because it is work, especially with Bella.