The Bermuda Triangle…Family, Money, School
With back to school time rapidly approaching, there is so much to do, especially if you have kids. You have to get the school supplies, new clothes, pay the school fees, and attend the open house nights (which in my case puts me at 3 different schools). That is right, the more kids you have the crazier it is, and yet the happier you are that school is beginning again…Am I right? Anyway, in our house, it is not just the kids who have to get ready to go back to school, but Mom as well, and therefore I have been really thinking about how to effectively finish up my degree and still balance it with being the mother to 4 very active and talented children. Well, as you know the boys play soccer and that will take up to 6 days every week when in full swing, and at least 5 days for sure. Then my oldest one wants to take singing and piano, and my oldest son is joining jazz band which means staying after school 1 day a week. My youngest will probably want to go back to cooking classes this fall, another after school program. With all these activities all afternoon and being in class all day, I will never get anything done. Sure they could help, but they probably won't and my husband will be working and running the kids everywhere too, so I am just not sure what my plans should be at this point. Also, with money being so tight and with my schooling accumulating more debt for us in the form of student loans, it really makes it difficult on the family if I don't work.
I understand the plight of the working women of the world. You want to raise your kids, be there for them with brownies every afternoon; however you also want them to be able to go to college and get married some day. Balancing the priority of family and the need for money becomes a constant tug of war physically and emotionally. I know that the loan rates are pretty good right now, and we have been relatively debt free for a while now, but still I am not sure that with the current economy it is a wise choice to refinance. I just worry about where the financial times are leading to. Are we headed towards the bread lines of the 1920's and if so isn't it hard to imagine picking up more debt right now? Credit cards are helpful; however you can't live on them, not if you want to have any credit left when you are through.
Posted on Wednesday, August 06, 2008 1:25 PM by Carol Ann