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Pro
I haven’t lived this, but my cousins have and this is what has been said:
Mainly the SAH parent gets burned out a lot and feels the breadwinner doesn’t contribute a lot to the household running. The breadwinner thinks the SAH parent needs to chill because they get to be at home all day and not have to work crazy hours.
There’s a balance in there somewhere, so empathy is key.
Honestly working is easier than being a SAH parent if you have multiple babies/toddlers 😅 I’d say have discussions about other household work and how to divide/conquer. And ensuring both parents get to have their own outing / social event / “me-time” at least once every week or two.
Financially, we lived off one income for a year before quitting the others job. So we had fully tested our budget! Just make sure you avoid lifestyle creep.
Units of productive work are indeed infinitesimal. Cuteness output, off the charts
Stop thinking of yourself as the breadwinner. That’s the first step. Because even though the other parent is SAH, it doesn’t mean they aren’t contributing financially. You don’t have to pay for day care. You don’t have to pay for a babysitter.
You need to give you SAH parent a day off. Because they ARE working. When you get home, be prepared to have the SAH parent to need a few minutes or hours depending on how the day went. You get travel time to and from work. They don’t.
Research ‘default parent’ - this is now your partner.
I have days where I feel completely useless and have done nothing with my life. After having a successful career, I became a SAH parent. We have 3 children 6 and under. I do have 2 jobs - both of which I can take my children with me to work. Those jobs do exist. They don’t pay much, hours are irregular and are not mentally challenging. But, it gets me interaction with other adults during the as my partner is something gone for 24 pluses hours at a time, multiple times a week.
I am living this (female breadwinner, lawyer husband staying home with kiddo). I HIGHLY recommend going through the Fair Play card game - it was transformational in our relationship. It helped both of us understand some of the invisible work the other was doing and have more transparent conversations about workload and balance.
https://www.fairplaylife.com/
Rising Star
I found it helpful to have the non breadwinner be the person doing the finances. That way they are super engaged in that part of it.
And, yes, the tricky bit is if the working parent starts raising an eyebrow when asked to help. We still do one person cooks, the other cleans up, for instance. A stay at home parent isn’t a house elf.
And then it’s about communication and respect.
We did this and it really helped to not be having to ask for an allowance like a child.
There will be frustration and an acclimation period. You will want to discuss chores, dinner, who pays the bills, and then expect to have a little flexibility. When I was a stay at home mom I managed the household but didn’t want to do yard work and I wanted adult interaction as soon as my husband got home. He wanted peace and quiet. It was an issue. Your breadwinner salary is now both your salary. Give equal allowances to both. Both people have important roles so everything has to be split!
Live off your paycheck only for 6 months and the transition should be easy.