If I Had It To Do Over...What Would I Change?

Now that both of my children are school age, I thought it was relevant to reflect back on the previous 7 years and ask myself if there is anything I would change about how I balanced work with family with being a mom. After my first child, I went back to work half time from the time that she was 3 months old to around 7 months or so. I ended up moving up to full time for a promotion. With my second child (almost 2 years later), I came back 30 hrs/week for a couple months and then had to come back full time. Both of my kids went to in home daycare up to around age 18 months, at which point they went to a preschool with before/after school care.

So, if I had it to do over, would I have changed anything? I think I would have worked half time longer. Babies don't stay babies forever, and whereas I don't feel like I missed out excessively...it is a lot harder to go back to a part time work schedule after going to a full time work schedule.

On my childcare choices, I don't think I would change a thing (Considerations on choosing child care will be a post for another day.). I personally was struggling with putting my 3 month old in a larger daycare situation. A friend offered to keep my first child for me while I worked part time. When I converted to full time when she was 7 months old, I had to look into additional options (ugh) and was greatly blessed to find a wonderful woman offering in home daycare with only 4 children total. She became a wonderful resource for my million childcare questions and is still a part of our lives today. My children's preschool cost a little more than some other typical options; however, it was important to me that the basis of the program be a true school (some children came for school only) and, if possible, there be a religious background. My kids actually ended up at a Jewish school (although we are not Jewish) that is about 2 minutes away from my office. I loved them being so close to my office that I could easily drop in for day time programs, when they got sick at school, etc.