Skyline,
Everyone is different, but I have ruled out part-time. As was already touched upon, you will still think about w*rk, be tied down, probably w*rk long hours to get done what you need to, even nicely "asked" to come in on your off days in a pinch. Yes, you can lay down ground rules, but I am not sure it would be easy to stick with them. For me, it likely will be cold turkey.
We are in a very similar situation to you, just alittle further down the line. While the day-to-day kid expenses are not much, there are the extras, which in our situation are hard to ignore. Yes we can afford nursery school or summer camp, so we do them. These are both several thousand. Even with them, 10k is still doable.
How will you know you are ready? When you can wake up one morning, look yourself in the eye in the mirror, and say this is it! I am not there yet. Part of my hesitation is financial, some is age, some is embarassment. I will have to lie to my immediate family (i.e. parents and siblings). May even have to make up a story for the kids, so they don't spill the beans (i.e. daddy is a consultant form home). We just can't announce to the world that we have enough money for me to "sit at home all day". No one would ever suspect it, and both dads are in their seventies and w*rking.
I'm rambling here, but do you have these issues? How will you handle them? Money aside, once you feel that is set, how will you occupy yourself. Like us with kids, you can't be a vagabond, and will be somewhat tied down to your current situation. If I were single with the money I have, maybe I would be a world traveler for awhile, bumming around Europe and wherever.
My suggestions:
Do the math. If you feel you are there, what do you want to do for the next 20 years while your child (and maybe children, you would be surprised, at least while they are young, how well they get along) is still at home. If w*rk hinders that too much, then stop.
One of my fears is that if every day were Saturday, I do not know how I would fill those Saturdays, and I am not yet willing to give up the day job to find out.
Everyone is different, but I have ruled out part-time. As was already touched upon, you will still think about w*rk, be tied down, probably w*rk long hours to get done what you need to, even nicely "asked" to come in on your off days in a pinch. Yes, you can lay down ground rules, but I am not sure it would be easy to stick with them. For me, it likely will be cold turkey.
We are in a very similar situation to you, just alittle further down the line. While the day-to-day kid expenses are not much, there are the extras, which in our situation are hard to ignore. Yes we can afford nursery school or summer camp, so we do them. These are both several thousand. Even with them, 10k is still doable.
How will you know you are ready? When you can wake up one morning, look yourself in the eye in the mirror, and say this is it! I am not there yet. Part of my hesitation is financial, some is age, some is embarassment. I will have to lie to my immediate family (i.e. parents and siblings). May even have to make up a story for the kids, so they don't spill the beans (i.e. daddy is a consultant form home). We just can't announce to the world that we have enough money for me to "sit at home all day". No one would ever suspect it, and both dads are in their seventies and w*rking.
I'm rambling here, but do you have these issues? How will you handle them? Money aside, once you feel that is set, how will you occupy yourself. Like us with kids, you can't be a vagabond, and will be somewhat tied down to your current situation. If I were single with the money I have, maybe I would be a world traveler for awhile, bumming around Europe and wherever.
My suggestions:
Do the math. If you feel you are there, what do you want to do for the next 20 years while your child (and maybe children, you would be surprised, at least while they are young, how well they get along) is still at home. If w*rk hinders that too much, then stop.
One of my fears is that if every day were Saturday, I do not know how I would fill those Saturdays, and I am not yet willing to give up the day job to find out.