WWYD Job Situation

[Deleted]

I am a middle school teacher at an awesome private school. The pay is crap, but we will not send our kids to the public elementary we are zoned for and if I am a staff member they will be able to go for 60% off tuition. LO can begin at my school at 2 years old. Currently I am working 12:30-3 and also am paid for one hour of planning per day at home. My boss approached me a couple weeks ago about what I wanted to do next year and I told her I wanted to stay part time. She approached me again yesterday to tell me my FT potion from last year is going to be available again. I could probably negotiate a schedule w the planning still at home for less hours at school. However, DH and I are pretty sure we are going to try for #2 (and then done) next summer. So if I did go back to FT, it is likely the next year I would ask for PT again. When LO #2 is one year old, I think I would go back to FT and stay that way. In my heart I feel like 2 more years of PT is what is right...but the fact that I love my old position is making it hard. I am considering approaching my boss about job sharing that position rather than the random classes I am teaching now. WWYD? ??

[kimberlyb]

That is a tough call. I don't have any great advice but was in the same situation when DD was a year old. Like you, we were planning on having another baby in the near future and I knew I wanted to be part-time if possible till the baby was at least one. DH was absolutely no help and left the decision up to me. Questions I asked to help make the decision were: what is the likelihood that a full-time position will be available in two years, what are my long-term career goals, what would I need from DH to make the transition to full-time successful (in our case it was more help with cleaning and meal prep),how much time would I get with DD on a daily basis, etc.

DH has a very demanding job so I ultimately decided that it would be best if I remained part-time until I adjusted to life with two kids since I would continue to be responsible for most child and household related duties even if I went full-time. It sounds like you want to remain at the school for several years to get the benefit of tutition reimbursement. Do full-time positions become available regularly? If so, and finances aren't an issue I would lean more towards remaining part-time. I don't think most people look back and think I should have spent more time at work. However, I think there are benefits either way so I don't think you can make a wrong decision. Let us know what you decide!

[minervamae]

I agree with kimberlyb