One or two incomes?

MP Dunleavy, whom I do not read on a regular basis, has a column about the question of choosing between living on one income or two. This is pretty much the same situation that Mrs. Bluebird and I are in, except that I'm working and she's home full-time with the kids.

Like MP (what kind of a name is that, anyway?), I'm keenly aware of the potential quality-of-life effects of having both of us work, as well as the fact that expenses would shoot up due to the need for child care.

We would have to find full-time day care for our son. That not only would mean an extra $1,000 a month — but I wouldn’t see the little guy at lunch or when he visited my home office to see mama “tippin” on her computer. If my husband was gone all day we would probably need a second car. And how would we divide the buying of groceries, doing the laundry, cleaning the bathroom, running to the hardware store and a thousand other chores?

As for what we would do with the extra money, it would be nice to have a fourth bedroom and a second bathroom. Right now, we don't have the cash to do this, and we don't have enough income to service the debt and other associated expenses (more taxes, more heating bills, etc.).

Of course that's just my take on it. I'm not the one actually has to deal with the children 24-7, day after day