Want to get back to work but having 4 kids its hard any advice?

  Love my kids but my husband needs help with bills and everthing else . Due dates this wk for the 4th baby want to help him out and still take care of kids dont know if the job markets up and running just really stressed and wanting to  take the pressure off of him some what. would it be better to go back to work just to pay daycare fees or just better staying at home? who knows at this point any advice would help it would take about 2 months before actually start going out looking for a job.

Natasia- I hear what you are saying about stress related to if you should return to work or not. My thought after reading your post is that it doesn't necessarily have to be quite so "Black and White". What about looking for a part time job? My best friend had to return to work several months after having her 2nd baby. She got a job in a coffee shop and found that she could work the early shift while the kids slept, then daddy would do breakfast and morning care, and then she was back by 10 or 11 am. If your husband works during the week perhaps a family member could do morning duty 1-2 days a week and then you could work one weekend day each week. Coffee shop worked great for my friend. Another thought I have is seeing if there is something that you can do from home. I'm not sure what type of jobs you have had before, but looking for an online or at home job might work nicely. It might be beneficial then to have a responsible teen come over after her school is out for a few hours so that you can get some work done, but don't have to pay the big money to a daycare center. There are lots of ways to be creative with work and I think that we often forget this thinking that all work is 40 hours per week from 8-5. Let us know what you are thinking and post if you want to brainstorm some! Take care, Jess

As someone who has gone back to work to help make ends meet, I understand your dilemma. Is it worth working part time only to pay day care costs? My husband and I have been able to work opposite schedules where he can watch my son during the evening while I work and I watch him during the day. Perhaps you can look for a job in a hospital or store where you can get evening shift work and avoid daycare costs. Another idea is to use a talent or skill you have and work from home. Can you give piano lessons? Can you watch some other kids for another working parent? Can you do some data entry work? All of those things can be done from home without daycare costs. Hope this helps a bit - it's not easy! Hang in there. :-)

Natasia- I just wanted to check in with you and see how things are going.  It's been almost two months since your post here, and you were thinking ahead about this far.

I would love an update when you have time.

Take care,

Jess