Staying home vs. working or going to school

[Aleii]

I know this was asked to the women here, but as a man, I would like to give my feedback. When and if God blesses me with a wife, I would like her to be educated and have professional skills. Its not that I think she should work (though when there are no kids or the kids are spending days in school, I think some sort of job is probably a good idea) but rather so that she would have something to fall back on if something was to happen to me. My Dad use to be the primary bread winner when I was growing up but he got laid off from his job in 1981. Being that he was essentially an unskilled worker, he never was able to find a job that paid as much ever again. Thankfully my Mom was able to find a job with UPS and in the long run it was the best thing that ever happened to us as a family. All of the kids got scholarships from UPS, her health insurance has helped since my Dad became semiretired (he is 75 but doesn’t like not working). Unfortunately jobs for people with my parent’s starting skill set are much harder to come by these days. I would hate to think that if I became ill or died that it would wreck the chance for any kids I might have to go to college or for the family to loose the house or whatever.

So my thought is go to school. Even if you choose to start a family, go part time. You can take care of the kids in the day, and then your husband can watch them for a couple of hours a couple of times a week while you take one or two classes a semester.

agree with the whole post! There are a lot of online class choices out there. I loved my online courses, and some I could complete far before the course ended. Very convenient to do while raising a family. Even getting just a general type of associate’s degree will be of use if you ever need it, such as if something happens to your husband. The jobs that one can obtain without a college degree shrink every year. Also, concerning social work positions, many of them require masters degrees, just fyi. (They are invaluable positions that unfortunately don’t pay near what they should)

 

[Holly3278]

I voted for the second option. But what concerns me is how will you go about postponing pregnancy? I hope you will be practicing natural family planning and not using some form of contraception. Always follow the Church’s teachings. Also realize that the Church only allows you to use natural family planning to postpone pregnancy for a very serious reason. I would think that not being able to afford children would probably be a good enough reason.

 

[ALLFORHIM]

Hi,

I went back to school after my first child was born and IT WAS HARD!!

My suggestion is go back to school and get it done before you settle down and have a family. I have looked into going back for a Master’s degree and it is just way too difficult with kids and a husband.

You have only been married for six months. Get education out of the way:thumbsup:

 

[Eliza10]

… Your education is something you can pursue anytime, both before or after kids, but I would suggest that it will be easier to complete now rather than 10, 15 or 20 years from now.

But I would suggest that its easier to have babies now than it will be in three or five years. Also, you may live longer. The younger you have the babies, the less chance you will have cancers. I guess God designed our bodies the way he did for a reason.

What if pregnacies don’t happen right away for you? You never know. Then you’ll wish you had those years back. What if your children are naturally spaced 3 or more years, and you and your husband decide you want to welcome as many children as possible, but find that getting a later start is a loss that you can never make up?

You can make up the degree at any time in your life, but* not* your child-bearing years and youthful energy which is such a gift. Youthful energy helps you get through those sleepless nights and toddler years.

Go with your heart! Ignore those people giving the message of today’s culture. Education is* not* as important as motherhood. Education in our culture is esteemed so much more highly than motherhood. Hmm, lets have another look at our culture. Yikes! What do they know?!

If you need work unexpectedly later, God provides.