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Ideas for working from home; Ways to Supplement Income
Topic Started: Mar 11 2009, 12:56 PM (1,486 Views)
deastap
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Goddess
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Alana79
Mar 13 2009, 04:17 PM
andie73
Mar 13 2009, 03:35 PM

(Maybe you good be a sex phone operator - they can work from anywhere!! :misss: )
That's what I wanna be when I grow up!! :rotf
you don't need to go that far! you can sell the products to help the people with sex!! :rotf you can even get to use the products :misss: :misss:
Sorry couldn't resist! :hdance
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dfoote
Newbie
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Thank you so much Melanie and Andrea. I never thought of a sex phone operator!!!! LOL!!! You have given me some great advice and guidance. Having been married for almost 12 years and together for nearly 19 before our little girl arrived has totally changed me and my perspective on what is important in life. I was totally career driven and now all I want is to have some gas in my tank at the end of the day so my family gets the best of me. As working Moms how have you been able to strike the balance? Thanks so much for taking the time to write and share your thoughts.

May I also say this is a wonderful site. Thank you so much for the warm welcome.
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deastap
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Goddess
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this is a personal decision, and whatever you decide, it will be the right one.
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White Tundra
Just me....
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The balance takes a while, but I feel we have a good balance... We do our cleaning and housework mostly in the evenings after the kids are in bed and we do all our extracurricular stuff (swimming, dance, spark's and basketball) on weekdays so that we can devote the weekends to the kids! I work from 7 to 3 as well so get some late afternoon fun with them, especially in the summers when we don't normally participate in swimming, dance, sports, etc... Julia doesn't want to play soccer this summer, which is the only thing she was involved in last year.
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jesse_girl
Home Away From Home
Welcome to the board..you are right..it is a great board!!

I am a recent SAHM to two kids (ages 5 and 3) but I returned to work after my first child and for about a year after my second. We worked opposite shifts first...that was really hard as we had a post it note relationship!LOL I was at a job where I worked night shifts and DH did as well so finding a sitter for the kids at 2 in the morning was next to impossible...so I gave up my career! I am OK with it as I know if I should chose to go back I always have my education and experience. I have enjoyed being at home, but am in the process of starting my own business. I am not looking to make a million just enough to keep me busy as I feel I have lost myself somewhat....I am known only as Emily and Jesse's mom!!

It is a very hard decision....but it is yours!!! You need to weigh out the pros and cons...and listen to your heart! My mom was also a SAHM and my best memories as a child was knowing that she was waiting for me everyday! I am not saying I will never return back to work (ie...day job) but for now I am quite content to start my own business and keep myself busy!!

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White Tundra
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I'd love to own a business that pulls in enough to let me stay home, but I don't think it will ever happen unless I take on the world of brides. As of right now my cake business pretty much shuts down during the summer and I just love making other cakes that are different from the norm! Cake decorating certainly doesn't pay the bills as the cost of ingredients and supplies keeps rising and I don't feel people would pay more than I currently charge. I could make more profit by using cake mixes but that isn't something I am going to get into...

If you have a love/skill try to grow on that and develop it into a business! There are a few Mommies here who have done that from making custom wedding invitations to photography to party planning to bouncy house rentals to cake decorating!
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andie73
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There was an article in the weedend paper's business section about a lady who started a company offering administartive services to companies by distance. She has a couple of poepl who work for her. they do things like answer calls, typing and other stuff from their own homes. She described it as a great job for SAHMs.
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momof2boys - kerri
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I've been only working part time for the past 12 years. Every year I've worked less time. Now I usually work from september to december (about 14 weeks. Enough for EI) I might get a few weeks here and there during the rest of the year. I would love to be a SAHM or at least work from home. I haven't been able to come up with anything that would allow me to do so. I have a chance to babysit for a 1 year old but I'm still trying to figure out if that would be the best desicion for me to do. I've been working in the same place for 12 years doing the same job and I'm just getting tired of doing it.....to tell you the truth I'm just tired of working ...lol... :misss: I keep telling DF that I wish he had a job where I didn't have to work...
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Feckless
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As for striking a work/life balance, it surely can be hard. I tell people it's amazing how much time is freed up if you do absolutely no housework. LOL We try not to have many extra-curriculars, because ferrying the kids back and forth can really cut in on the family time, and the down time. Another key is of course finding childcare that you are comfortable with. Ideally, I would like to have a job that finished when the kids got out of school, but my occupation doesn't lend itself to that. Strangely enough, I found work/home balance easier when the kids were younger - now that they are both in school f/t it is crazier. Before, it was get the kids to daycare, pick them up, then home for supper, bath, bedtime, with some playtime of course, and then the weekends had a couple of birthday parties but no real scheduled activities. Now it's picking them up at school, driving them to daycare, getting back for a couple of hours of work, picking them up at daycare, then home, supper, HOMEWORK, piano practice, basketball, choir, etc. etc.... Madness! Then the weekends are filled with other people's kids, basketball, piano lessons, and dinners with extended family. It can get exhausting!

I guess I'm not the best one to talk about balance, then, hey???
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dfoote
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Thank you Andrea. I missed the article in the newspaper. I will definitely check it out. Thanks to everyone for their posts. Just a quick update on me. I have requested an additional 6 months extended leave and been approved. We just couldn't find childcare that felt right. Mind you I am terrified of going in the poorhouse and frantically cutting coupons, but at least I know my little girl will be taken care of and loved. That gives me until September to resolve my feelings and work out childcare details. My husband's mom has agreed to come in from out of town in September to take care of our daughter but she is in her 70's albeit a very young and active 73 year old. Please keep any suggestions you may have coming I still haven't given up with regards to establishing a home based business. My education, experience, passion and certification is in counselling. I am just not sure where to move next. Ironic isn't it I help people for a living just can't seem to pave the way for myself.
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Feckless
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It's great to have family available to look after kids, but I found relying on family for everyday childcare to be extremely stressful, and hard on my relationships with them. My MIL would have taken the kids every day, all day, but although I wouldn't worry about them physically when they were with her (she adores them) she didn't agree with my way that I am raising them (it's not much of a "childcare philosophy", more of a "this is what I want to do" kind of thing!) and would ignore me and what I would tell her. I found it supremely annoying, and where I could blow up at my own mom and speak my mind, I found myself seething silently more than not with my MIL, and relying on my husband to deal with it. It ended up not being worth it, and as soon as my youngest was 2, I put them both in f/t daycare. It was better for them and for us. Now they look after them some afternoons, or on days when we have to work and there is no school or daycare available. More respite, than anything else (so, respite instead of spite!) Not to say that this is what will happen with your MIL, just a head's up... And if you aren't comfortable with childcare, then don't accept it. Glad to hear that you have an extra bit of time to decide - 6 months more is ages when it comes to a child and your comfort level!

Good luck...
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dfoote
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Thanks for the heads up. I anticipate some issues with MIL but I am hoping we can handle it for 6 months.
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MamaTo2BOYS
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what did you decide after? Or are you still thinking..... I'm interested in your ideas!
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dfoote
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After an extended leave I am reluctantly heading back to work mid September. My MIL is coming in with us for the winter to help out but we have also secured part time family home care for five mornings a week. Grandma will care for our little girl in the afternoons until I get home. I am requesting to change my hours at work from 8-4 PM. That way I will see our little girl more. It's not ideal but it's the best solution for now!!!!!
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