Skip to main content

Stories

Having no paid maternity leave from my waitressing job threw my husband and I into financial chaos. It was so stressful - on top of having a newborn, not even knowing how we were going to make what little savings we had last, having to stress about buying diapers and basic survival items. We had...Read more
Melissa
The absolute worst part of becoming a new mother two years ago was trying to deal with my time off from work -- supporting myself and my family financially and guaranteeing that I would have a job to return to. I work for the University of Texas which is considered to have good benefits including "...Read more
Briana, Texas
I was coming back from maternity leave in a couple of weeks and work and myself already had arrangements for me to work three days a week and work from home or bring the baby to work two days a week until I could secure full time daycare in about one to two months. In our town, there is only one...Read more
Anonymous
When my second child was born, my husband had saved up vacation time to take some time off to help out at home and get to know his new daughter. Instead, things got busy at work and his company required him to work overtime. I had postpartum depression and this made for a very difficult situation...Read more
Anonymous, Wisconsin
I shopped around quite a bit while I was pregnant with my first child and right after he was born. I checked online mommy groups for advice and drove around my neighborhood. The places I found were not very nice and the biggest red flag was that the kids did not seem happy at most of the places...Read more
Dawn
My husband was recently laid-off his primary job. He does have a second part-time job that he could work more hours at, however, because of the cost of childcare, it would actually be BETTER financially for us for him to stay home and collect unemployment. If he tried to work more hours at his part...Read more
Anonymous
Emma is my 5-year-old. She was born weighing 1lb 3oz and was 11in long. She spent her first 4 months of life in the NICU. When she was born I was not given very much hope for her future. She has worked hard from the day she was born to prove the doctors wrong. Emma entered ECEAP [Early Childhood...Read more
Daree, Spokane Valley, WA
The cost of childcare is an enormous burden to my family. Both parents have to work but the cost of childcare ($13,000 for childcare/preschool and $3,000 for aftercare) has meant that we have fallen deeper and deeper into debt. For the past year I have been unemployed, so even though my daughter...Read more
Jennifer
My husband and I found ourselves with a surprise pregnancy when our two children were 10 and 12. At the time I was working full time as a nanny. By the end of the pregnancy I was working for the same family part time. I took off just under a month and went back to work for them part time, toting...Read more
Sandy, Washington
I was lucky enough to be able to stay home for the first year of my daughter's life, but as her first birthday approached I knew it was financially time to get started again. The daycares in my area were all acceptable, but most were warehouse type "kindercare" places. I wanted a more personal and...Read more
Michelle

Pages