Houston Babies

Work from home??

Any Houston/SugarLand/Katy moms know of any suggestions on jobs where I can work from home? My husband recently took a huge pay cut at work due to this lovely economy and he called me yesterday so upset because he is starting to feel the pressure of providing for his family. He is currently searching for another job but as we all know, it's hard right now. We both agree that we want me to stay at home with the baby but I want to contribute somehow, someway. I am currently 32 1/2 weeks so I'd like to start something after she comes since I am working temporarily in Katy at the moment. Any help would be greatly appreciated! Thank you!
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Re: Work from home??

  • I don't know of anything.  I will say, it will be hard to work from home if your baby will be at home, too.  Even though "they sleep a lot", you will be exhauted, and will be tending to the baby every 2 hours for at least 30 minutes (feeding/changing, etc), so it really takes a lot of time out of the day.  Then when they get older, they are constantly getting into things, so you have to watch them.  Maybe you can find a job where you can work any hours during the day, so when your LO starts to STTN (around 4-6 months maybe), you could work at night while they are asleep.

    Sorry - I am not trying to discourage you - I just want you to be aware of the challenges of being a SAHM and WFH.

  • Thanks for your reply. I totally understand what you're saying. I have a friend that fortunately works for her father's company from home and is fortunate enough to work during the baby's naptime. Her daughter is also 16 months so there's a huge difference in that too. I found a couple of things online that were data entry stuff (requires 30 minutes-an hour a day) but it seemed like a scam to me. I don't think you're being discouraging at all. I appreciate your input. It's definitely something I have to think about.
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  • imageCareBear01:

    I don't know of anything.  I will say, it will be hard to work from home if your baby will be at home, too.  Even though "they sleep a lot", you will be exhauted, and will be tending to the baby every 2 hours for at least 30 minutes (feeding/changing, etc), so it really takes a lot of time out of the day.  Then when they get older, they are constantly getting into things, so you have to watch them.  Maybe you can find a job where you can work any hours during the day, so when your LO starts to STTN (around 4-6 months maybe), you could work at night while they are asleep.

    Sorry - I am not trying to discourage you - I just want you to be aware of the challenges of being a SAHM and WFH.

    This. I stay at home now but was working when I had DD. I went back after maternity leave for about 2.5 months before quitting to stay home. I worked from home but even though I was at home, DD was in daycare. There was no way I could be productive with an infant. I think all too often people assume WFH means you do whatever you want but that isn't the case. Now, I was full-time but I still had deadlines, conference calls, etc. that were set for me. 

    Also, be careful of the WFH scams out there. If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is. 

    Good luck though. Perhaps you could consider doing a Pampered Chef or the like? Or maybe get a part-time job where you could work weekends while your DH is home? 

    PS- also not trying to discourage, just being realistic.

  • You might consider working at a Mother's Day Out type of position where you could take DD with you...and then you'd also get a paycheck. A few of my friends do this.

     

     

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  • Sell Tupperware!   You can do it in the evenings or weekends when your dh is able to be home with the baby.  You set your own hours and basically how much you put in is how much you get out of it. 

     

    It's not going to be instant money like starting a regular job but it does pay out and lots of women are making lots of money at it.   Tupperware virtually sells itself, you just have to present the product to people.   

     

    You can email me if you have any questions or interest at britnhouston AT hotmailDOTcom (no spaces and obviously @ and . instead of the words)


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  • Maybe take care of another infant in your home?
  • I think the deal with great work from home jobs, is that if they existed - we'd all have them! :)

    I think the recommendations for either a childcare job where you could take your baby, or keeping an infant in your home may be your best bet. Or maybe working in a church nursery on Sundays when your DH could watch the baby. If you have the personality, you could do sales (like Avon or Pampered Chef), but I know I couldn't do that. :)  GL!

     

    DD born March 2011
    DS born Dec 10, 2013
  • The best bet for legit work from home jobs are ones that are at companies you have previously worked at, doing work that you have previously done.

    I SAH p/t and have 2 jobs (kinda). When my DD was born, after maternity leave, I began to job share with another mom, doing what had previously been my full-time, in-office job for two years (I've been there almost 6 years now). We both worked primarily from home. I kept DD with my until 9mo and then needed childcare, but only MDO hours (so 15hr a week of daycare). That's as WAH as I have been able to get. I was doing up to 20 hours of work a week, so some of it was done at naptime, etc while she was home. Every tried to take notes on a conference call while changing a poopy diaper? Not so much fun and pretty stressful. But I did the same when DS was born, keeping him home until 10mo. Now they both go to daycare 3 days a week.

    My other job is freelancing for my previous employer. I left the company in 2005, and did no work for them until 2009, but since then I've done half a dozen projects. Typically I have one conference call to discuss the project and then work on my own nights and weekends to get it done. It is hard on DH because he has to go solo on the weekends, but the projects are short term and the money is good so he doesn't mind too much.

    Anyway, my point are that a) it's really really hard to work from home with a child in the house; b) to get a good gig, you need some good skills in whatever your field is; and c) it pretty much has to be for someone you've worked for before - or maybe working for an old boss at a new company - because they need a reason to trust you.

     

    - Jena
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  • My gig is work at home, but I also spend a lot of time working away from home.  What works for us is that most of my work hours of when DH is home.  I work almost every weekend and lots of evenings/nights.  It's after 10:30 and I just finished for the night.  DS and DD go to MDO 15 hours a week and I also work in that window.  I am working a job that I did prior to kids and I work for myself.  I work on a team that provides support and help when necessary. 

    What about something you could do when your husband is home so he can take baby duty? 

  • Check out this site called eLance.com.  It's a freelancing site that some old colleagues have done work through, so I know it's legit.  You mentioned data entry, so if you're interested in admin work, they have all sorts of postings for that, as well as plenty of other areas of expertise.

    https://www.elance.com/p/provider/how-it-works.html

     

    image
  • imageNanner:

    Check out this site called eLance.com.  It's a freelancing site that some old colleagues have done work through, so I know it's legit.  You mentioned data entry, so if you're interested in admin work, they have all sorts of postings for that, as well as plenty of other areas of expertise.

    https://www.elance.com/p/provider/how-it-works.html

     

    Thanks!! I'm going to check this out as soon as I get back from my lunch break. This sounds more along the lines of what I am looking for. I am people-oriented but sales is not something I'd be good in. I have done lots of administrative work but that's about it. Thankfully my mom owns a business that she does outside of her full time job and gives me things to do here and there for some extra cash so that's a plus. I just can't expect her to have things or rely on her either, you know? Thanks everyone for your responses!

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