Working Moms
lilbugs momma
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WAHM's
lilbugs momma
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in Working Moms
What do you do?
I would love to find something I can do at home. I have my teaching license and have thrown around the idea of becoming a teacher with Nevada Virtual Academy. It?s a home school option for parents here in Nevada. The only thing I?m worried about is still having the 6 hour commitment where I couldn?t be accessible to my child ? how would that be any different from being in an office? I know when Pea is school aged this would be a perfect option but I can?t help but to think there is an option out there I?m missing. Please shoot me some ideas I?m open to anything at this point!
**Edit** Just some background I'm not a SAHM. Right now I'm working full time in a office 12 hours a day 5 days a week (BOO).
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Re: WAHM's
It's not. WAHM parents still need childcare - no one will pay you to take care of your child while you work.
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Exactly. I telecommute to an office. I have a flex schedule, and I'm supposed to work 35 hours a week. Truthfully, it varies by week and I've worked much longer and much shorter hours, but that's our full-time schedule. I need to be completely available for 20 hours per week for conference calls and meetings, so I have a nanny hired to cover those 20 hours once I return to work in April. The other 15 hours I'm going to try to fit in during naps, early AMs (H leaves for work super early so I'm up from 6 until my office opens at 10 generally wasting time anyway) and ocassionally evenings when H gets home/weekends. If it starts being too much, though, I'll up the nanny's hours. And I definitely plan on upping the nanny's hours once baby is aware that I'm home (I'm due next week, FTM). I honestly think I probably have the most flexible WAH schedule I've read about on these boards, though.
Most jobs where you WAH you have to, you know, work. Just like in an office.
Like the others said - there is no difference. You have to work if you work at home. There isn't a job that you can do while caring for you child other than opening a home daycare. I have a friend who works from home and her child leaves to go to daycare every day. If he's sick, she has to call her patents or in laws to come over and watch him while she works.
Cam 6.6.10 - Autism, Global Developmental Delay, Mixed Receptive/Expressive Communication Disorder
This. I opened an in-home daycare. I used to work from home with a nanny. Even THAT was hard because I could still hear DS crying etc.
~Benjamin Franklin
DS dx with celiac disease 5/28/10
My friend is a teacher and wanted to stay home but also make some money. When she had her third she realized her paycheck was going to childcare and she was only working for benefits. After she left, she started tutoring kids from the school where she worked. She tutored when her husband was home and could watch her children. Other than that I can?t think of anything that would allow you to work and watch your child.
This.. although it also means that you don't have to shower or get dressed!
Hehe which is the best part some days
For me, it also means I get to do certain things around the house (like loads of laundry or a quick clean) since I get so much more done on at home days than in office days just by cutting out visiting coworkers to chat or lunch (I just grab something in my kitchen and keep working, and use the time saved to do chores).
The point is, OP, that children are unpredictable. There are a lot of plusses with WAH-- like I said, I tend to get dinner started, throw in laundry, do a bit of cleaning-- but if I have an extremely busy day, those things don't get done, and that's okay. There are days when my work is dead. I know people in the office are just sitting aroudn doing nothing, so I'm glad I'm at home where I can get things done. But it's not okay to either neglect your work because you're caring for your child or neglect your child because you're taking care of your work, and doing both together is impossible.
If you can find something VERY part-time and that you can do during naps or whatever, then you can take care of your child and work. Or you could do opposite "shifts" from your H. But you can't expect to do everything at the same time.
Yep! although thanks to daycare I now have to get dressed and do have a little commute each morning. DH leaves for work before daycare is open, so it's all on me!
One benefit: I can usually let DS sleep as long as he wants in the morning and then get him to daycare once he wakes up. Not true on days that I have early meetings (like tomorrow), but usually.
We will still pay over $14000 this year in daycare so working from home is only saving me money on professional clothes and gas :-)
I'm also surprised at how many people have expressed surprised that I need daycare since I work from home. Even my professional relatives who I would think should realize that this would not work.
Sorry if this upset some WAHM's that was not my intention!I
I don't think I worded my post correctly. I was just trying to get some insight about working at home and childcare vs working at an office and childcare. What are the perks and down falls of each? Also was wondering about what type of jobs you have.?
Oops - I didn't mean to under-sell WAH!
I'm usually in my office but work from home occasionally, most often when I have a meeting much closer to my house than the office. When I do, I generally dress and get my hair decent and work in my home office; it just transitions me more into work-mode.
Call me jealous of those who can crank out technical documents in their comfies.
I nanny 2 days a week (16- 18 hours) with my daughter and I work from home (basically doing data entry type stuff) 16 hours a week after she's asleep.
I'm a former teacher and watching another child is the only thing I could come up with that didn't require outside childcare. I could never do my evening job without childcare. DH stays home on those nights in case Kate wakes up and needs something. My hours are not flexible though; my shifts are from 8-12.
I recently started working from home. I am an engineer and work for a small company where everyone WFH. I used to have a 45 min commute each way which I don't have to deal with now. Also, since I WFH I can work at night or on the weekends to make up time of DS gets sick or something. The other perks are what PP's have mentioned: relaxed attire, getting some laundry done, starting dinner, etc.
Hmm, didn't get that from your op at all.... :-/
Cam 6.6.10 - Autism, Global Developmental Delay, Mixed Receptive/Expressive Communication Disorder
Exactly! (As I sit here, telecommuting, in my PJs. I'll shower before I go pick up the kids from their DCP)
Me neither.
General perks of WAH, like other said--
-- save commute time (especially if you don't have to drop off at daycare)
-- ability to do ocassional chores (so you can spend more family time in the evenings/weekends)
-- if you have an in-home nanny, ability to see kids during the day (can also be a downfall if they don't understand you have to work). For me the biggest perk here is I want to EBF, and I can feed during work hours whenever possible instead of pumping. HUGE: You need to have a set-aside office space with a door, especially if the kids are home while you work
As for what people do, it depends on skillset. I,and many others on here it seems, just telecommute to jobs we had before. That's usually the easiest way to get a WAH position.
When I worked full time at home I definitely needed childcare. I went back to work when DD was 3 months old but by the time she was walking and could "find me" in my office it became really tough...
You would save time commuting each day, which adds up by the end of the week. And you can check on your LO during breaks, lunch, etc on lighter work days. Other than that, it definitely takes commitment to work and have your child home under the same roof.
The only job I can think of where you work from home and can also take care of your kids FT is freelancing. If you're a web designer/graphic designer/writer, this works out well. Of course, to do this, your DH pretty much has to be the 100% caregiver when he gets home from work so you can work on projects at night.