Back when I first conceived my daughter, my husband and I planned for me to stay-at-home at the end of my maternity leave. However, because of situations involving work and insurance, I ultimately returned to my job. Back on May 18, 2011 as my husband and I mused over my staying at home, I wrote the following post on deciding when to tell an employer about a resignation for my original blog, Librarian Mom – My Reference Book on Parenting:
As my pregnancy progresses (I am currently six weeks and four days along), I am getting more and more excited about the prospects of becoming a stay-at-home mom. Although I had originally thought that I would return to work after spending my maternity leave at home after giving birth to my first child, the situation has since changed for me and my husband. Due to some newly discovered medical concerns, the best decision for me and my family will be for my husband to work full time outside the home while I stay-at-home with our children. Thus, the decision for me to become a stay-at-home mommy is pretty much set in stone.
Even though I am certain that I am going to quit my job after I have my baby, my new dilemma concerns telling my work that I am not going to be coming back after my maternity leave. My boss knows about my pregnancy; however, I am not sure when I should let work know I will be leaving? Should I let the cat out of the bag before I have the baby? I could also wait until during my maternity leave? I want to use and get my pay for all the sick and vacation time that I have been saving up, and I worry that letting my job know sooner rather than later will cost me. Even though I have decided now, can I wait until I am on leave and pretend I made the decision then? When should I let my work know about my becoming a stay-at-home mom?
To help me in my decision concerning when to tell my boss that I plan on becoming a stay-at-home mommy, I recently posted a thread entitled “Leaving the Workforce” on some message boards posing the same questions. Consensus says: Wait until I am on maternity leave to announce to my boss that I am becoming a stay-at-home mom. Although I do not like the thought of keeping information from my work or fibbing if directly asked about my plans, I agree that not waiting might lose me the sick and vacation pay that I have saved up over the past four years. Yes, waiting will place a little bit of a burden on my employee, but, honestly, I need to do what is best for me and my family. I am pretty sure that I will be waiting to tell my work that I am becoming a stay-at-home mom.
I certainly am glad that I did not tell my job about my considerations about leaving my job. Ultimately, my husband and I decided that remaining a mom who worked outside the home was best for our family at the time. Our situation has since changed, and I have recently become a stay-at-home mom. Regardless, my advice to any women considering becoming a stay-at-home mom is to wait for as long as possible before informing an employer. Your situation could change in the drop of a dime!
Image Credits
Becoming a Stay-at-Home Mom: http://www.sxc.hu/photo/1208426
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