Grosh Family Blog - Changes, Changes, and More Changes
Adding hours at work—a little scary, but an important step in making some needed financial preparations.
We’ve all made a lot of changes to the way we do things financially and otherwise during this contest. Some of the biggest changes we’ve made have been from the very beginning and have become such ingrained habits by now, that the new way has now become our normal. Well, we are getting ready to make another change that feels big and scary to me.
Since September, our little Jacob has been attending preschool 3 days per week on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. At the beginning of the school year I let my boss at my tutoring job know that I would be available for morning hours on those days, and would like to add hours if possible. Since she mostly needed more help on Tuesday and Thursday, it didn’t work out for me to add hours, but I did put Jacob on the waiting list for adding Tuesday and Thursday to his preschool schedule. Well, last week the preschool contacted me to let me know there was an opening for Jacob to add the 2 days, and so last Thursday he started his every day school experience. This Thursday, I will start working 3-4 mornings per week, adding 8-12 hours to my weekly commitment at work.
This is necessary for us right now, or at least very beneficial and wise since we have the opportunity, because we are preparing for a 4 month period next spring/summer where I will have no income at all, which will be followed by another 2-4 month period where I will have less of an income than what we have become accustomed to in the last 8 months. I figure that by almost doubling my hours for the next 5 months, we will be much better prepared than if we did nothing now to get ready. And as dumb as it sounds, we have been in this similar situation in the past and done absolutely no saving to prepare for me being without an income. This lack of preparation is probably the biggest reason we’ve been in debt in the past. Now, we (okay, I) have come out of denial and learned how to face certain and uncertain future financial events and plan for them. It feels good! Well, at least that part does anyway…
The scary part: Part of me knows this is going to sound whiney, because there are so many moms out there who would love to be in my situation because I have the option to just work part time and spend so much time with my children. I know I’m very blessed. And yet we embark on a change that I worry about how well my children will adjust. Gabriel I am not so worried about. He had his full year of 3 day preschool last year which created a smooth transition to his 5 days of preschool this year. My adding work hours in the morning will not change anything for Gabriel. But little Jacob—he is my “momma’s boy” and I had reserved our Tuesday and Thursday mornings for our special time together. Now he will be getting up, getting ready for school, coming home to nap, and then spending the afternoon with Daddy while I work my afternoon hours, 5 days a week. By the time I get home it is time for bath and bed, and I won’t even get to do that each night. Michael has teased me because I am so concerned about how Jacob is going to take this new schedule; he says I am the one with the Separation Anxiety. I am trying hard to keep an open mind—who knows? Maybe Jacob will become a little more independent (or at least let other people besides Mommy do things for him!) if he spends a little more time away from me. This would be a really good thing! I know he will enjoy playing with his new Tuesday Thursday friends at school. One thing I’ve already noticed about our interaction just as I mentally prepare for this change is that I am much more appreciative and focused during the time we have together—and that is definitely a positive change!
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