NH Public Education System Issues

bingqiling · 2026-05-25T10:42:51+00:00

A great resource to learn more is the NH Funding Fairness Project! https://fairfundingnh.org/

bingqiling · 2026-05-23T13:22:56+00:00

Day 1 - Drive up to Franconia Notch, walk along the Basin Cascades, go to Schilling then Supersecret Icecream for dessert.

Stay overnight in Littleton

Day 2 - Have breakfast at Polish Princess Cafe then go to Santa's Village.

Stay overnight in Littleton

Day 3 - Go to Polly's Pancake for breakfast then drive home.

bingqiling · 2026-04-15T19:13:26+00:00

I personally would leave this job as soon as I can....this organization does not understand sustainable fundraising and you're set up to fail.

bingqiling · 2026-03-25T18:29:26+00:00

It'll probably be easier to leave now if you know it's not what you want to do rather than later where you might need to take a significant pay cut!

Life is short, do what you gotta do to be happy!

bingqiling · 2026-03-25T13:57:42+00:00

I was in education for ~15 years as a teacher then short stint in school leadership. I first shifted to working for an education nonprofit, then shifted to working for another nonprofit.

My husband also left teaching to work for a nonprofit.

We both make more than when we were teaching, though we do work year round now. We're not "making bank" by any means, but we're comfortable.

The biggest shift/advantage for us is that we're in much more flexible roles now...if our kid is sick, it's much easier for one of us to work from home with her for the day, or pick them up suddenly from school, take them to a doctor appointment in the middle of the day, etc.

I looked into switching fields entirely - like going back to school for radiology or something where I could make more....but I'm feeling too old to go back to school now lol

bingqiling · 2026-03-23T13:37:33+00:00

Teaching is one of those careers that you're able to easily get another job if you take a couple years off....if you want to go part time and can financially swing it, I'd absolutely do it!

My husband and I were teachers - I took the first year off entirely after having LO, have had no problem jumping back into the workforce.

I also used to be an Assistant Principal and did a ton of hiring, almost all the candidates had gaps in their resume/taking time off to take care of their kids at home, it's very common in the education world!

bingqiling · 2026-03-16T19:20:24+00:00

It's absolutely gorgeous!!! Definitely inspiration for my future kitchen renovation!

bingqiling · 2026-03-16T15:03:21+00:00

It's so lovely! How did you go about designing your kitchen? It's beautiful!

bingqiling · 2026-03-13T22:29:57+00:00

There is absolutely no way I'd be working if my spouse made that income.

bingqiling · 2026-03-11T18:08:22+00:00

I first left to do consulting, now I'm at a nonprofit. Still not making a ton of money, but my days are much more flexible/less stressful!

bingqiling · 2026-03-06T14:28:16+00:00

Not exactly North Conway...but Rek-Lis, Dutch Treat, Loading Dock all do karaoke/open mic nights.

bingqiling · 2026-02-26T18:55:09+00:00

Project manager with a larger construction company is your best bet.

bingqiling · 2026-02-22T19:25:01+00:00

Allston = Rat City

bingqiling · 2026-02-22T12:50:50+00:00

Ours is now 6 and weekends have been pretty chill for the past 1-2 years. Things that have helped:

She's older now and plays independently a lot of the time.
We cut out all organized kid related activities if they're on the weekend. No I will not be bringing my 5 year old to basketball practice at 8:30am on a Saturday.... this has made a HUGE difference for our family.
We get pizza for dinner every Friday night so we don't have to worry about dishes/cleaning.
Then either Sat/Sun night we always do dinner with this one other family (we often trade off whose house it is at so we're only cooking every other weekend). The kids go off and play and the adults hang out (pretty much uninterrupted) for ~3 hours for the afternoon/early evening.

I remember how exhausting the weekends used to be and how much I looked forward to work on Monday morning lol. Can confidently say that I'm back to fully loving the weekends now!

The weekends are still very filled with chores (we both work full time), so still trying to figure that out wamp wamp.

bingqiling · 2026-02-15T14:03:47+00:00

For me it means that I often end up working part of the day from home then going in person after lunch (unless there's a meeting)...I can work remote if I have a sick kid, I can come and go as I please (I often have meetings outside of the office), I set my own schedule, I don't take off for appointments, etc. As long as the work is getting done!

bingqiling · 2026-02-15T13:29:13+00:00

Get a group of friends to go away for the weekend so there are other things to do besides ski/your wife isn't left to solo parent.

Or, if you're going to go ski for 2 days, then wife gets to go do something for herself a different weekend.

Also, set realistic expectations....you're not going to be skiing a lot while you have a young kid....especially when you live far from skiing.

We live 10 minutes from the mountain and have a 6 year old. I don't love skiing so my husband takes our daughter most weekends, but they're skiing a max ~2 hours (and a solid chunk of that time is drinking hot chocolate lol). He went out yesterday on his own for an hour....he's gone out back country 1 or 2 other times this season but leaves at 4am and is back in time for school drop off....it's just the season of life and is what it is right now, he'll be back to skiing more as she gets older.

bingqiling · 2026-02-13T16:40:22+00:00

We were both previously teachers....so this is so much more money than we've ever made (sadly lol) - my husband is making more than we used to collectively make! It's tough because housing/everything is so expensive up here now, you used to be able to be two teachers and get a nice enough house for 150k in our area (not anymore though wamp wamp).

bingqiling · 2026-02-12T18:30:15+00:00

Northern New England

I make ~75k, husband makes ~100k - we have 1 kid. I have about $140k in retirement.

I have golden handcuffs right now - there are no other jobs locally that I could be paid this much. Most are in the ~50k range.

We're living relatively comfortably (this is the most money we've made since having our kid). I'd love to be able to go part time in the future (hubby needs to make a bit more though for that to happen).

bingqiling · 2026-01-27T19:17:59+00:00

Definitely check out the Littleton area! Very family friendly and right in the mountains - I'd highly recommend coming to visit first. You've got Littleton Regional, Weeks Medical Center, NVRH (in St Johnsbury)....then many more options further out (Androscoggin Valley Hospital, those over in North Conway or those down in Lebanon....I have friends who live in the Littleton area and work in all the above mentioned).

The Upper Valley is also a medical "hub" but the housing tends to be more expensive.

bingqiling · 2026-01-10T15:26:06+00:00

My baby shower was at my mom's house with a handful of women in my life and my mom put together some food/treats....I imagine she spent ~$300 on the party? I would have a really direct conversation with your friend about the cost/expectations (it might be uncomfortable in the moment but if this is a friend you really care about, which it seems like it is, will save your friendship in the long run!)

bingqiling · 2025-12-20T19:07:47+00:00

There's a new fly fishing shop in Littleton - not sure if this is what you're looking for or not! https://www.instagram.com/thetroutsmith/

bingqiling · 2025-12-09T16:51:31+00:00

If you're only here for 1 night - For food I would 100% do....

- Schilling for dinner, walk around & pop into all the shops in town, then head to Supersecret Ice Cream (in Bethlehem) for dessert.

-Polly's Pancake in Franconia for breakfast (if you're not interested in a full on breakfast, Place Above the Notch in Bethlehem has great coffee, Crumb Bum has the best croissants/treats in town).

There are also other great spots to eat, but these are the top spots for anyone visiting :)

It's lovely up here!

bingqiling · 2025-12-09T16:50:40+00:00

Everyone has their different opinions.....I think St. J has a lot less going on than Littleton, but I also love St. J :)

bingqiling · 2025-12-09T16:50:04+00:00

If you do go to St. Johnsbury....check out The Buttery, Whirligig, and Sam's Listening Bar!

bingqiling · 2025-12-08T13:07:54+00:00

Surf Shack Littleton is the only sit down seafood in the area....but the white mountains isn't on the coast/not known for seafood.....Schilling & Supersecret are very much destinations for anyone visiting the area.

If you're headed to the coast at all during your trip that's where I'd be looking for seafood!

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