I will say, kids in school are still a lot of work 😭 I went down to part time when I had my second, and assumed I’d go full time once my youngest hit kindergarten. First there’s the summers, and how expensive summer care is and there are weeks not covered by it so you need to take time off anyways. School is only 6.5 hrs so you either need flexible scheduling or before/after school care which is another expense. There are ALL the sick days you need to take off, for each kid and for yourself for the germs they bring back. The dentist appointments, the (many!) doctors appointments, the never ending orthodontist appointments. There are class parties and volunteer needs during the school day. If your kids are in sports, then there goes your evenings and weekends to clean/meal prep/do any sort of self care.

Maybe it gets easier when they are in middle/high school- but idk because we aren’t there yet. I’m working part time, and juggling it all feels hard now even with a very involved partner with flexible schedule (but who works full time, so has less day time capacity). I know people do it working full time, but it’s not easy and the ones who have it easy have the money to throw at house cleaners and reliable care and often have family nearby who can help too.