working Moms vs Stay-at-home Moms

I used to be a stay at home mom, I worked while my kids were at school for a couple of years, but that was about it for a long time. Now my kids are all older, the youngest is nine, the oldest 15, and I'm trying for a new job that will mean I will be out of my house for 10 hours a day. My current job is short on hours and even when I get 40 it's stretched out over 6 days and the hours are very flexible, which is why I decided to do it in the first place. My husband has a very flexible schedule, and so far things have worked out well, but this new job, if I get it, (and I want it) has me worried. I would have set hours and be home for dinner every night, but not home when my kids get home from school most likely. They get off their bus around 4, so they wouldn't be home long and the older ones are competent babysitters who know the rules but I still feel a bit of trepidation. Probably because for a long time I felt most mothers didn't have to work outside the house and should have saved the money they spent on day care and stayed home. I am working because I have bills to pay, not because of some misguided "men are evil you must take care of yourself" thing. I have gotten jobs, even after being out of the workforce for several years, with very little effort on my part. So I know that at least some of the "keep working or you won't get hired again" is, to a degree, false.
Now I'm faced with the fact that I need to work at this time, and while I know I have good kids and a solid support system of a husband who works from home part of the tie and who can arrange his days around emergencies, (not that I couldn't) and most likely be home when they get here, I still worry. I'm the mom. I'm the one who has 15 years of running a household. How can he do it? Why am I not doing it?
I have to get it through my head that now we do it together. Dear Husband can do everything in the house but laundry, and all the kids except the 9 year old know how to do that. All the kids have chores too, it's not like I do it all.
Most women who work look at their career and family and think they have it all. I can't help but look at my family and wonder, if I get this job, what I'm going to miss.

Last week of School

School lets out this week! Yay! I get 2 months of not having to get up at the crack of dawn to get my kids to school 30 miles away. I really don't mind the drive, just getting out the door by 7 AM.
Another bonus is that most kids with Juvenile Migraines can go off their meds in the summer, so there's a possibility that there will be no headaches for my son. I think his having a few months of remission will do wonders for him, although he's been doing very well since his last medication change. Also since the grade books closed.
The kids are all looking forward to their vacation. We have friends coming to visit for a fair amount of the summer, as well as my in-laws. I think we will be pretty busy. The kids will have plenty to do too, between helping with the garden (we got it out of the pots and into the ground) and playing around the yards and the tree house. We usually have a mandatory reading time during the day, when it's hottest out they have to come in and read for a while. Some days we do movies. The only thing they haven't realized they will be able to do is play with the hose; but they might have written that off since you CAN NOT run around in bare feet around here because of the goat heads and other thorny things. I guess they forgot about their surf socks. I guess I will have to point that out to them. Just another fun thing to do. I should probably pick up some water pistols too.

Summertime cometh

So, school will be out in a little over a week. My kids will be running free for 2 months. We have some plans, friends coming, paintball games, frisbee golf to play, and a huge house to cool. We are thinking of using our swamp cooler, now that we are in a place where we can, but when Monsoon comes it will be to humid. However, the rains cool everything off, so maybe we won't cook.
The end of the school year always seems busier than any other time, we have school things to go to, activities are ending for the year and have things to give the kids closure. We have been out a lot in the last few weeks for band concerts, school fairs, and we still have a Girl Scout function and maybe a sports banquet. (same night as GS) If that's the case we will have to tag-team it.
Now that we love out in the wild, we have to think about more things to do at home. It's 60 mils round trip just to get groceries, so we can't just run off every time we et bored. We have to figure out how to stay entertained. It seemed easier when I was a kid. We didn't have all the things kids have now, and I don't remember being bored that much. Maybe I just need to introduce my kids to roller skates and a radio.