[JenB]

Kaylee (love the screenname btw) I've seen you around - I think we're similar aged young women. My mom stayed home with us, and she was often looked down on by other women. Of course she laughed at them. But women my age are 'allowed' to see home-making as a perfectly acceptable alternative to the high-powered career.

I'm finishing up at grad school. My field, computer science, doesn't have many women, and the one female professor I know is somewhat horrified that I'm "giving up" academia and getting married. But the few other student women I know think I've got a great plan. Work for a year or two, start the family, stay home, raise them, homeschool, and quite probably work from home, consulting or something. The key is to not get trapped into the two-income game, I think. I really like the idea!

[Kaylee Frye]

Sounds like you have a pretty similar plan to mine. :) I didn't do the grad degree, but I'm a programmer too (BS in Computer Science - '03). Since my husband is in the Army, it'll probably take us a little longer to get to the kids, but we're thinking probably 5 years... My last job was a work-from-home job, but that was really the only good thing about the job (except my boss and coworkers, I liked them).

Our plan is pretty much the same though - I'll work for another 5 years (round about) and then stay home with the kids. We also plan to homeschool. I also hope that programming will allow me to work, but no matter what we'll make it work. :) Good luck to you!

[M. Dodge Thomas]

Reading your posts got me thinking: one big economic advantage of homeschooling is that you are not forced to buy a home in a high-tax high-housing-cost community just to be in a good school district, so in this sense it could help in avoiding the “two-income trap”