Should I quit my job as a commercial airline pilot?

Can you put it off for a little while longer? Maybe you can really dedicate yourselves and save ahead and build up a nest egg in preparation for you quitting to become a full time mom. It sounds like your husband might be a little nervous about that aspect of it....we don't always feel like we can be completely frank with our spouses on all matters. Men are ALWAYS thinking about the money though. But for instance, my friend worked overtime and saved a bundle... paid cash for his first house, and when we got laid off from United Airlines, it was just a minor inconvenience to him. While the rest of us were scrambling, trying to figure out what to do with ourselves next, he was doing home improvement projects....unconcerned. From then on out, he was....IS...basically bullet proof, because losing a job will never result in losing his house. Maybe if you folks could bullet proof yourself first, it might make the leap to parenthood a little more plausible. Bottom line, I vote for the stay at home mom option. It works out better over all. Just think of a movie like Home Alone...that kind of imagery. What a beautiful home they had. Father of the Bride...that sort of thing. All American idealistic homes....and why not? Just think how sharp and talented you are...and what all that talent would bring to the role of mother. You don't want someone else, no matter how nice they are, to be raising your kids. YOU, their mother, are the only one who is going to REALLY care about those kids as much as they deserve. By the way, you two are living a life that millions of people can only dream of. Lucky you. ( I know it wasn't luck.)

I believe that you already know the answer to this question. Your heart is just screaming it. Follow your heart and be the mommy that you want to be. You will not regret it. I can promise you that no career could ever take the place of a career as a mother. Best of luck to you and i hope that this has helped.

You don't mention seniority, salary, and job stability, so I am assuming that both are very close. Firstly, why should you be the one who get to spend the quality time with your children? Why not your husband? Women want equality, so, why not equality? I am truly all in favor or equality; I was a feminist long before it even had a name because I felt that it was unfair to discriminate. On the other hand, with equality comes equal responsibility, so, just like I and many millions, billions, trillions of husbands around the world, over the centuries, you might have to set aside your urge for full time motherhood for the sake of the financial well being of your family. With the FMLA, you will have, I think it is one year, of time off that you can spend entirely with your child. After that, your husband has a one year FMLA that he can use. Assuming that you take the leave one month before birth, your child will be almost two, and will have had a full time caregiver. At this point, you can evaluate your options and decide whether your should quit, your husband should quit, or you should go with a nanny. Also, two years later, you will both be more senior, making more money, flying a better schedule. You might be able to fly opposite schedules with a little overlap. Unless you are already a junior FO, downbid so that you can fly turns. Red-eye turns are tough, but I have used them on occasion to stay close to home. You can always quit, if you have kept your finances in order. You can almost never go back. Listen to have many contributors here bemoan the fact that most NEVER get the real opportunity to fly for a major. In my family we didn't always have the financial well being to be able to do what we wanted. With three children spaced 18 years apart, we did mommy care, grand mommy care, and day care. My oldest is a successful pilot, my second is in college, and my third is in high school. All are doing just fine. I'm not suggesting that you can raise a child by throwing money at him/her, but it is nice when your child senses financial security in the household. Also, remember that most fights in the house are caused by finances; when they are tight, this just gets worse. It is also nice when your child needs something that you can provide it without taking out a loan. Notice I said needs, not wants. One last thought. I know that you think that you love your husband, and he loves you. So does each and every married person in the world, right up until the day that you don't, he tells you that he doesn't, or one of you strays. I can't quote the statistics, but, if you marry one time, and make it to the end you are in a very small minority indeed. If you give up your job, you will find your options limited if that ever happens. The same for him. You are married, not conjoined. OK, one last-last point. If you really loved aviation enough to stick it out through all of the rough spots that you must have encountered to get where you are, I wonder if you will ever be truly happy after you have given it up.

troll

Tell him to join the highway patrol air unit. That way he can fly C-206s or similar, make 6 figures and be home every night. If he was highway patrol before the both of you should know this already.

Yes--there are a number of things you need to quit.

WTF! You both have every good jobs! I think you should quit... He flies Virgin Atlantic planes!!!!!!

Assuming no other factors (that's a big assumption), I'd recommend that you quit your job. I'm a father and career aviator (military background). While I consider myself a great dad, there are things that I have come to understand that a man just can't give a 0-3yo child -- things that are critical for a mother to supply. ...Things that aren't explainable in a simple Yahoo-answer snippet. Your role is unique and powerful. You aren't simply two equally equipped people in charge of raising one kid. You each bring your own strengths to the parenthood and at the outset, yours are brought to bear in tall order. I'm not saying that fathers are useless by any means, but I am saying that your assets (emotional, physical, and contextual) play a powerful and irreplaceable role in the growth of a human being in the most critical years of life. The later years depend greatly on the early years too. And your child is more important than any silly airplane or career. All the best...

Don't jump into this...it's no joke!..and with whatever decision you make, you can never go back, remember that...especially in this situation! Maybe the best thing would be to have a child in about 2/3 years time so then in the mean time you save up as much money as you can before one of you quits your job. Jumping into such a career (pilot) means that you dedicate your 100% to the job, and having such a career means no time for family unless you quit your job. To be honest, i think it is such a waste to throw away all those years of studying and all that money and time spent into obtaining your licenses, but if you really want to be a mother, then i say go ahead and quit and raise your child as a full time job...there's one catch though......as the child gets older and begins school full time from early morning till late afternoon, what are you supposed to do with your life?...be a house wife?............pity. Good luck with whatever you decide