Caura-Yang Helene

Hi all

I am new to this list and just added a photo album called Anouk to
introduce a little my family.

We are a Franco-Taiwanese couple who just moved to Singapore
recently. We have a toddler girl (22 months), Anouk.

I am working full time now as an Instructional Designer for elearning
courses and my husband is looking for some opportunities here to
freelance. Our daughter is unfortunately attending a child care
center 5 days per week. I hope I can soon work 80% only, but our
further goal is to work each part-time so we can unschool our girl.

I've never read testimonies of parents doing like that, and it seems
that it is mainly the mother who stays at home while the father is
earning the money.
Somebody to contradict me?

Thanks! (I try to read all the posts but there are a lot, and in
English - difficult for me...sorry if don't participate much)

Helene Caura-Yang

Joyce Fetteroll

On Jun 16, 2006, at 3:01 AM, Caura-Yang Helene wrote:

> I've never read testimonies of parents doing like that, and it seems
> that it is mainly the mother who stays at home while the father is
> earning the money.
> Somebody to contradict me?

It's most common for mom to stay home and dad to work. But there are
few families I know of where the dad stays home and the mom works.

Ren, one of the list owners, works part time though her husband works
full time.

But what's important is what works for you family! You won't get as
much help figuring out how to make it work since there aren't as many
families with two part time working parents to give you tips! But I
bet there are plenty of people with ideas that might help :-)

Joyce

[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

Ren Allen

~I've never read testimonies of parents doing like that, and it seems
that it is mainly the mother who stays at home while the father is
earning the money.
Somebody to contradict me?~

Me, me!! (waving hands from TN)

We're are perfectly willing to make money in unconventional methods or
work our schedules around each other. I've worked off and on over the
years (more on than off) and have worked consistently since our
youngest was born five years ago.

Currently, our situation is that I work part-time for MAC cosmetics
and do some freelancing on the side (makeup artist) and dh works as a
realtor, shifting his work around my schedule for the most part. I was
full-time for a few months here recently, and we even made that work
(not recommended though!!).

If you're willing to be creative and share the duties of work and
parenting, unschooling can work great in your home!! It's not as easy
as being totally home of course, but the benefits of me working, far
outweigh the inconveniences at this point. It opens doors for us.

Ren
learninginfreedom.com

freepsgal

> I hope I can soon work 80% only, but our further goal is to work
> each part-time so we can unschool our girl.
> Helene Caura-Yang

This is a really tough situation I suppose. My DH works full-time
and I stay home. He has the skills to make a much higher salary
than I do and he also enjoys the interaction with other like-minded
adults. He is not as patient as I am with the children and gets
bored just hanging around the house. So we really have the best
situation *for us*.

I miss working sometimes and have thought about getting a part-time
job. The problem I encounter is that it would cut into our family
time. Recently at church, I led a Vacation Bible School class at
night for one week. By the end of the week, I was not only
exhausted, but I missed my husband a great deal because I hardly saw
him! That cured me of any notion of getting a PT job in the
evenings or on weekends.

I'm sure it is possible to work something out but it will take great
patience and coordination. Also, as your daughter gets older, it
might be a little easier to manage working from home. My DH works
from home one day each week and he has no problems getting his work
done in the midst of our busy family life.

I hope you find something that works for you!

Beth M.

Pamela Sorooshian

>> I hope I can soon work 80% only, but our further goal is to work
>> each part-time so we can unschool our girl.
>> Helene Caura-Yang

I've always worked - and there have been time periods when it was
full time, or even more than full time. But, for the most part, I've
managed to keep it down to about 10 to 15 hours per week of actual
work time. This summer I'll be teaching classes four nights a week
from 6 to 10, plus there is time spent grading papers and preparing
for classes. I've almost always worked at night and my husband during
the day, until the kids got older and then I work when they have
activities or I work early in the morning and they sleep late.

-pam

Unschooling shirts, cups, bumper stickers, bags...
Live Love Learn
UNSCHOOL!
<http://www.cafepress.com/livelovelearn>





[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

Caura-Yang Helene

Bonjour all!

Thanks for your reply-posts, at least I know now there are families
unschooling with BOTH parents working. 15 to 20 hours a week seems good
to me also ;-)
It will be easy for me freelance or find a part-time job as I work in
the elearning sector and have a degree in teaching French as a Foreign
Language, but most difficult for my husband. He used to translate
French or English to Chinese but he is a little bit tired of that: long
hours of work for a low pay. He definitively wants to spend time with
our daughter and me too! So we have to share the work! Or win the
lottery ;-)

Keep you posted when we will be ready to unschool... I hope within 1
year.

Helene