My husband and I were watching TV the other night when I got up to hit the computer. He asked what I was doing and, instead of just telling him that I was checking my mail or finding a recipe, I came clean. I was blogging.

He didn't know that I had a blog; neither did anyone else I know. (I am not even sure anyone in the blogging universe knows since I have yet to get a comment!)

“Why are you doing that?” he asked. His boss blogs on Ford vehicles, and he has said many times how it is such a waste of time. This is one of the reasons why I never wanted to tell him in the first place. Now he thinks that the reason that things don’t get done around here is because I am too busy playing around on the computer and telling the world about our family. Sure, it has nothing to do with the fact that I am pregant, feeling horrible and that I have a toddler to chase around. I'm spending too much time on the computer, obviously!

But I digress. I gave my husband a short answer that closed the subject and we finished our evening in peace, but the question kept haunting me. My husband did have a point: My time could be used in other ways right now. Why do I blog, anyway?

I am 33 and I have two kids and another on the way. Back in 1998, I started working as a nanny for a family I'd known my entire life. I moved in with them just after Christmas that year to take care of their three kids and their house, and I seem to have never left. II met my husband and got married while working there; I had my two kids and came back to work for them. I was extremely lucky to have a job and a boss I loved who let me bring my kids to work with me.

When I became pregnant again this past year, I knew that I could not continue to work in another person’s house with 3 kids of my own. My boss realized this pretty early in my pregnancy, and, when she found someone who would be a good fit, she asked her to start right away.

So now I was out of work much earlier than I had planned to be. On one hand, I was thrilled because I could focus on my home and my family for this firtst time. I got to be class mother and really enjoy my oldest son's first year of school. On the other hand, now I am not bringing in any money. Not that I was making huge bucks, but my weekly paycheck (under the table!) paid for our groceries, and now that that money is gone, it hurts. What to do?

It's hard to find a job when you're pregnant, and I'd spent the last 10 years as a glorified babysitter -- off the books, at that. Before I became a nanny I had every type of retail and customer-service job you can imagine. If and when I rejoin the workforce, I will not be making huge money. I will be low on the totempole, to say the least. And what do I do with my youngest kids, who would have to be in daycare? By the time I pay for someone to watch them, I might as well be working for free. And, of course, I would be missing my favorite things about having my kids -- everyday life. That just does not work for me.