Advice Needed

I am a new mom and have gone back to work after maternity leave. I see my DC for two hours a day, from when I pick him up til when DC goes to bed. I hate that I see so little of DC. I also work on Satudays which makes Sunday the only day I see DC. I basically have been thinking that maybe I should go back to school to become a teacher and thus be able to spend more time with my child and have the option of having summers off thus allowing me to spend more time with DC. Is this something that is reasonable to happen? Is it worth two brutal years of going to school, working full time and being a mom and wife. I am already very seriously stress and wonder if this would be my breaking point. It will cost 36K to go back to school. Very expensive as I am still paying back for my BA. I guess I just looking to see if this is even worth looking into and if anyone has any advice/ experience.

TIA

Re: Advice Needed

Honestly, most people I know just graduating now with teacher cert. have been unable to find full-time jobs in the field, especially on Long Island. It's just flooded right now. I would look into something else with a better chance of getting a job immediately upon graduation (no ideas as to what that may be though ).

Re: Advice Needed

I'm not a teacher, but I know a bunch of them, including my mother. I seriously would not go into a career as serious as teaching just because you "want summers off". From what I see of GOOD teachers, the work goes well beyond the day schedule, into the night-time hours, and often teachers have to take courses in the summertime.

As the above poster said as well, it's really hard to get a job, especially here on LI. I was JUST talking about this over the weekend with some teacher friends who said maybe 10 years ago when they all started jobs were there, but for new grads coming out now........forget about it. I also think I recently heard something about hiring freezes for teachers in NYC?

My mom taught in Orange County, NY and she said for every vacancy they get like 1000 applications, many teachers competing from Ivy League schools such as Columbia.

I am also friends with a few teachers from out of state and say that it's horrible right now to find a job because they are getting cut left and right.

I would post your question on the teachers board too. I think someone recently posted in career that she's a teacher and hasn't been able to find a job.

On a different note, I went into social work, and while I do not have my summers off, I have been able to find a pretty family-friendly job. I do case management and can often plan at least two days a week to "work from home" when I am not in the office, or seeing clients.

I also think there are more options for flexible hours in this field, like working on nights, weekends, maybe even opening your own practice.

Like teaching though, to work in the helping professions, you have to like working with people, dealing with a lot of bureacracy, and doing things that you may not always want to do which includes working with many people who $uck for lack of a better term.

But also like teaching, the field of social work can also be flooded or not pay well, especially here on Long Island and in NYC.

Message edited 7/15/2009 8:59:55 PM.

Re: Advice Needed

You may want to consider a job in sales.

Some sales positions have freedom to work from home and go into the office just for staff meetings and client meetings.