Let me introduce myself

Hi!
My name is Rich. I'm a husband to a Internal Medicine/Peds Doc who just graduated from residency. I, too, recently graduated, but I have a bachelors degree in Electrical Engineering.
We have a 5 yr old son who loves kindergarten, soccer, and talking(he's a social butterfly).
I got my degree while my wife was in residency, because it afforded me a degree of flexibility with my time. My son did not have to spend alot of time with babysitters.
As we start our new life, we want to have another child soon. In the last month I have found out that while my wife enjoys her work very much, she is still working 10-12 hour days. I am having trouble committing myself to getting a full time job right off the bat. I don't want to become one of the families where both parents work long hours while somebody else raises the kids.
These concerns lead me into searching for a new job description..."Part-Time Electrical Engineer". I'll let you know how successful I am. (In fact, I should be writing my resume right now.)

Has anyone else here dealt with these issues? And how did you deal with them?

I am very grateful to have found this forum!! Thanks for reading.

I have a long signature, but it is worth it. It is a quote that has brought my wife alot of joy and comfort during the last four years.

Rich

[SuzySunshine]

Rich,
Welcome to the boards - I can't offer any advice on the part time working as I'm the only full time wage earner in my pair!

You'll find lots of good info on this sight and some great people!

Welcome!

[fluffhead]

Hi and welcome.

I also didn't want to take a f-t job while my wife was spending so many hours away from home. I just started (yesterday) teaching high school part time. I'll let you know how it goes. gotta run make breakfast and pack lunch for the baby.

Hi Rich,
Welcome to the imsn!
I work part time and it works out pretty well for us. In fact, I left full-time work while my husband was in his last year of medical school because of the strain it was causing for all of us.
I work as a consultant which means sometimes I am working, sometimes not and my hours are variable. I try not to work more than 20 hours per week, but am working closer to 32 right now (too much). The nice thing about temporary engagements is that they are temporary! Things will ease up for me in late October.

Part-time work is out there but can be hard to find and often depends on the field. I don't know about electrical engineering in that regard. Best of luck to you in your job search!

[PrincessFiona]

Rich,

We have a few similarities in our backgrounds. I also went back to school while my husband was doing his residency. The flexibility was definately a major factor for me as well.

I am having trouble committing myself to getting a full time job right off the bat. I don't want to become one of the families where both parents work long hours while somebody else raises the kids.

I have been going through this for the last two years. It is really a tough decision to make. For me, going to school still was very much like being a full-time stay-at-home parent except for my last 6 months of grad school. Other than that, I set my schedule for when the kids were in preschool, took evening classes, etc....That last 6 months was very difficult for me and it was a real eye opener. I realized that it just was not what I wanted, and yet I felt driven to finish my degree. Since then, I've taken a bit of a non-traditional path professionally speaking. Like David, I'm doing some part-time teaching while my oldest are in elementary school and my youngest is in pre-k. I've kind of tried to carve a life for myself and my family as I envision it even though it has been very difficult from a professional standpoint.

In any case, this long ramble is to let you know that I understand what you are going through...it can be really tough! Feel free to come and vent/talk anytime!

Welcome to the group.

Kris

Thanks for all the input everybody!!
I definately think that two parents working full time puts too much of a strain on the family. I personally feel as though I'm a better Dad/Husband when I'm persuing my career outside the home at least part-time.
I'm finally reading that 'parachute' book all the career councilors told me to read and I'm trying to apply it to my current situation.

Everybody knows that money can be tight during residency and I'm pretty proud of the way we handled running the household on one income. If anyone needs any advice on frugality or automobile/appliance/home repair feel free to ask me. It seems sometimes like household components wait until money is tight to blow up .

Rich