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Hi Alistair. Thought I'd join in as thing looked a little quiet here! Well done for kicking it off! I'm Dave, dad to 3 kids (6,4&1). My eldest has downs syndrome, ASD and nystagmus. Life is hectic and me and my wife often feel we're barely surviving. Want our family to thrive more but need more time and so have been considering part time work. Less money but more happy?

Hi there, my situation is a little different in that I've always worked for myself, although not necessarily at home. However I am now the work at home primary carer as my wife works full time. My son, who has Down Syndrome, is now 15 and at mainstream secondary. However he is not travelling independently and I do a lot of the driving around. The focus of my work has shifted as well and I'm a lot more involved with disability projects. As Dave suggests - I think the main thing to focus on is the flexibility. There will always be changes to your children's needs and having the flexibility to accomodate those fluctuations can help immensely. As to the less money but more happy - only you can decide. The thing is that they're not this age for ever and the time you could spend with them now is something difficult to put a price on!