What to Do While Husband Is Gone

Updated on June 15, 2009
A.L. asks from Anna, OH
5 answers

My husband will be leaving for boot camp soon and I'm trying to figure out who will be available to watch the kids, since I have to keep working while he's gone. We can't afford daycare and I have a job that requires me to keep a pretty open availability. Before he joined the navy he asked his family if they would be supportive of it and they said yes. Now it seems they're backing out of their offer of babysitting and my mom is going to have shoulder surgery and my sister is a single mom working full time. I can't find anyone! I was just wondering if anyone else has been in this situation or if there are any suggestions out there for me. Thanks!

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C.S.

answers from Milwaukee on

Isn't there day care on the Naval Base? Have you been in contact with other Navy wives to see what they do, or if any of them will babysit?

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B.H.

answers from Minneapolis on

Your only options really are to:

join a babysitting co-op where you take turns babysitting. You babysit for free for someone they turn around and babysit for you for free

apply for daycare assistance through the county

find a different job where you can bring your kids along like starting a homedaycare, working at a daycare center, school bus driver etc...

find a work at home job

quit your job and make huge sacrifices

I've been a single parent before with no help from family or friends and what worked the best for me was working under the table doing childcare for other families. I tried other things and daycare costs were just to high.

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K.M.

answers from Milwaukee on

Hi, my name is K. Gauger I am 16 years old almost 17 and a junior at Burlington High
> School. I am applying for the childcare position. I have been babysitting for
> 4 years and love kids. I am going to be
> a preschool teacher and a mom so I enjoy working with kids. I would love to babysit for your kids. I am punctual,
> responsible, good with kids, and energetic. I have completed a college course at Gateway called guiding children's behavior. I have worked with kids of ages newborn-13, mentally disabled children and children with mental disorders. I have experience with twins and am very comfortable around them. I am free any time this summer. I can start June 13 for full days. I can drive and have a car. Feel free to email me if
> you would like to consider me for this job.
or call ###-###-####
> Thank you for your time

R.B.

answers from La Crosse on

i would suggest talking to his recurter (?sp) and see if they have any programs to help with the babysitting expense or if they can give you the names or numbers or an orginization that helps with families of the armed forces. maybe they would have a solution to this. or depending on the hours you are working, if its after school there might be a dependable teen in your area that would like the extra money and it would be less expensive than daycare.

try applying for the day care assistance in your county. i babysit for a family during the summers and i get paid from the state. it was actually really easy to get signed up for it and im not a licened day care provider. but i know she said that the limit on income is actually kinda high.. she was able to get that but made to much for things like food stamps or medical. that might be an option.

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N.S.

answers from Minneapolis on

Been there and still doing it. I currently am not working, but I know people who handle this problem by working at home. Many companies have telecommuting opportunities. My cousin works for IBM and telecommutes from home. The upside is she doesn't have to worry about daycare and she makes a regular fulltime salary with benefits as though she were heading into the corporate jungle everyday. The downside she tells me is that while with the exeception of scheduled and expected meetings by phone and computer, her schedule is just a little too flexible. She finds herself putting in way more hours than she did when she worked the same job at headquarters. I guess if a full-time corporate job from home sounds good, I'd check around in your area. You might also want to contact a temp agency and see if they have any telecommuting jobs, or jobs with flexible hours as well.

Some other telecommuting companies that I hear have a decent reputation are LiveOps (www.liveops.com) and West (www.West.com) Also check out www.wahm.com for current work at home postings. Not all are legit, but the majority are because the site's opperators try to screen for scams. So do your homework and good luck!

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