WAHM

kristine526 · October 2013

So my plan from the beginning was to be a WAHM. My hope was to stay with my current company and just do my job from home. The owner told me today that he doesn't think its possible, which leaves me stuck.

I'm on the hunt for LEGIT working from home opportunities that dont require me to sell things (sorry Scentsy, Tupperware and ThirtyOne)

Ideas? I do have my degree in Early Childhood Ed and type 80-90wpm. Help!

CopperPoppy · October 2013

In-home child care? I have a similar edu and that's all I can think of. Good luck. I know that's not an easy place to be in. In fact it sucks.

IBackBevo · October 2013

Could you get a certification to do medical transcriptionist work? I think, sometimes, doctors will call in and record their notes and then someone can listen over-the-phone and transcribe...

AnnieA75 · October 2013

What about Training/Instructional Design? Years ago, before getting into Project Management, I did some development of training courses and instructional design. You can often telecommute with those types of jobs. With a background in education, you may be qualified for this type of work.

Also, have you thought about asking your boss to reconsider? Maybe you could propose a trial run with him where you work from home a day or two before going on maternity leave, just to see how it goes? If you can prove it works during the trial period, he may realize he's comfortable with it after you've had the baby. If he won't allow you to WFH 5 days a week, maybe you could negotiate for just a few days and then arrange for childcare the other days?

I've been working from home full-time since having DD (19 months). It was really easy at first to manage the baby and work, but it became much more difficult the older she got.

pandadair · October 2013

Hilton has Work From Home Reservations as its own search options on their career site.

ETA: I've also gotten linked in recruiter messages about WAH revenue manager positions with them. Dunno if this is something you can work up to from WAH reservations, though.

jenb_99 · October 2013

Medical transcription and billing come to mind. There are other types of transcription too. I used to transcribe correspondence, legal docs, and recorded statements for an insurance company's claims department and their lawyers.

Google (and maybe Bing) has part-time work-from-home jobs too. I'm not clear on the specs, but the jobs have something to do with web searches and AdSense or AdWords.

CamrynnsMommy · October 2013

IBackBevo said:
Could you get a certification to do medical transcriptionist work? I think, sometimes, doctors will call in and record their notes and then someone can listen over-the-phone and transcribe...

Or even transcription for law firms. We used to hire people to transcribe discs, memos, etc.

pandadair · October 2013

kitchencolors said:

Other than child care I can't really think of a job you could do that will pay you to stay home with your kid. I mean just about any job is going to require you to have someone to watch the baby while you are working, isn't it? Maybe I just suck at multitasking, but I can't imagine how I could be a decent employee and primary caretaker during the same hours. If you are planning to have child are at home then I second the suggestion of asking your boss if you can at least ray working part time from home. Eta wording

Lol, I wasn't even thinking of that part. I will be a WAHM, but I will most definitely have the kid in daycare. You're right that childcare would really be the only feasible option if that's what OP is going for.

pistolpackinmomma · October 2013

kitchencolors said:
Other than child care I can't really think of a job you could do that will pay you to stay home with your kid. I mean just about any job is going to require you to have someone to watch the baby while you are working, isn't it? Maybe I just suck at multitasking, but I can't imagine how I could be a decent employee and primary caretaker during the same hours.

If you are planning to have child are at home then I second the suggestion of asking your boss if you can at least ray working part time from home.

Eta wording

My only "job" is direct sales and I only need a matter of maybe an hour on the computer to close out a party (and I don't have parties that often, I kinda suck at direct sales) and that is hard enough! I typically either try getting most of it done when I visit my mom or when my MIL comes over to play with DS. Otherwise I tend to close my parties out over the weekends so that DH is home and I can get a little time to do what I need.

jenb_99 · November 2013

I work part-time from home, and DS is not in daycare. He's with me all day. I just spend the daytime hours with him and then do my work after he goes to bed.

Kate070 · November 2013

With a degree in ECE, the first thing that comes to mind is tutoring. It's not a full time job, but if you could get enough tutees, it could certainly get you some extra income from your DH's.

MrsT2008 · November 2013

If your goal is to WFH and keep the baby home, you're probably going to want to rethink that. It is next to impossible to get any actual work done when there is an infant hanging around, and it only gets worse as they grow into toddlerhood. Most companies that allow employees to WFH still require you to seek out childcare. I work in IT and work from home 2 days a week but I am required to continue sending my daughter to daycare on those days.

MissLadyTay · November 2013

I hate posts like this. Posts and attitudes like this are why my boss side eyes when I legit do need to work from home (quieter so I can focus on writing a brief, or because I have an evening appointment that I would miss if I commuted). I still send my son to daycare on those days. Otherwise I wouldn't get any work done. Working from home doesn't mean you are a SAHM but (bonus!) with a salary.

ETA the only true WAHMs I know either run a small in home daycare or they run successful blogs. The woman who runs a blog sends her kid to half day daycare because "otherwise I wouldn't have time to work." (Her words.)

pandadair · November 2013

MissLadyTay said:

I hate posts like this. Posts and attitudes like this are why my boss side eyes when I legit do need to work from home (quieter so I can focus on writing a brief, or because I have an evening appointment that I would miss if I commuted). I still send my son to daycare on those days. Otherwise I wouldn't get any work done. Working from home doesn't mean you are a SAHM but (bonus!) with a salary.

Agreed. I've been working remotely for about a year now and am still dreading telling my boss I'm pregnant. The only way I'll still work with the baby at home is if he wants me back "part-time" before my leave is technically up, and I will tell him that's the deal if that's what he wants. Once I'm back on full salary, that baby is in daycare.

sweetky_06 · November 2013

If you don't want to go into an office, you have 2 choices, like most of these ladies have said:

1. Work from home and have a nanny or send your child to daycare.

2. Do work from home that is not "hour" dependent, but might be deadline dependent, that way you can do the work during naps and at night.

In almost 2 years, I have never been able to do more than have a conference call while tending to my son. Doing any work that requires concentration or attention of more than 10 minutes is about impossible. The only way he has stayed quiet while I've been on a call is because he was eating. If I'm at home with a sick kid (even if he's not really that sick) I'm not working - I just can't get it done.

btcruiserlove · November 2013

WAHM???? Sorry...but it's kind of An insult to SAHM's....I'm lucky to get a shower or go poop by myself. Good luck! Clearly this is your first.

Katemr1146 · November 2013

Have you considered Real Estate? It's not a guaranteed paycheck every month, but you control how much time and effort you put into it (and therefore control how much you're making).

I started in real estate about 6 months ago and I love being in complete control over my schedule. I anticipate that once the baby comes, I'll just need to get an occasional sitter (or my MIL) for the times when I need to go on appointments/showings without the baby. A couple of moms in my office said they'd even bring their infants along to some appointments when they were really little.

I do all of my paperwork from home and schedule showings when they're convenient for me.

You'd have to get licensed though, which is about a 600-1,000 120 hour class commitment up front. I started the class last November two nights a week after work, and finished in early January. Wasn't bad at all.

I don't know...it's just an option.

runningyogimama · November 2013

I can't even get homework done with DD at home, I can't imagine getting any work done....

btcruiserlove · November 2013

kitchencolors said:

pandadair said:

kitchencolors said:

Other than child care I can't really think of a job you could do that will pay you to stay home with your kid. I mean just about any job is going to require you to have someone to watch the baby while you are working, isn't it? Maybe I just suck at multitasking, but I can't imagine how I could be a decent employee and primary caretaker during the same hours.

If you are planning to have child are at home then I second the suggestion of asking your boss if you can at least ray working part time from home.

Eta wording

Lol, I wasn't even thinking of that part. I will be a WAHM, but I will most definitely have the kid in daycare. You're right that childcare would really be the only feasible option if that's what OP is going for.

Yeah, not sure what @kristine526's plan is... maybe I'm getting hung up on something unrelated. But I have definitely heard friends who are like "oh when I have kids it will be awesome, I will just keep my job and WFH. it's a double win, i get to be a SAHM and have my salary at the same time!" I worked from home frequently at my old job but it was against company policy and against common sense to think that I should get paid the same to stay at home with my baby with my computer on as to work from home.

Agreed! Not to mention the neglect your child would indure. You can't just put them In a corner. They are 100% dependent on you for atleast the first year.

pandadair · November 2013

btcruiserlove said:

WAHM???? Sorry...but it's kind of An insult to SAHM's....I'm lucky to get a shower or go poop by myself. Good luck! Clearly this is your first.

Well, I hate the term "working mom" period. No one calls a father who works a "working dad". But... I work from home. Wtf else would I call myself? Good for you for not being able to shower or poop. It isn't a martyr contest.

kristine526 · November 2013

Yup. I'm going to put my kid in a corner and neglect him/her so I can get work done.

Yup, my full intention was to insult the true SAHM by asking for ways to earn money AND stay at home with LO. I'm sorry that I'm trying to still make money to supplement our family while taking care of LO.

Not. Seriously, way to assume that I'm a bad person and I'm going to be a shitty mom because I want to find a job that allows me to make money from home while taking care of LO.

Maybe my post wasn't clear. I'm not looking to work 8-5 and leave LO to fend for him/herself when I'm working. I'm looking for something that will supplement DH's income that doesn't necessarily have to be done throughout the day, or something that can wait until after DH gets home/LO goes to bed, etc. Maybe it's naive for me to think that it's possible as yes, I'm a FTM, but I'm not an idiot.

Thanks though to the ladies who posted legit ideas. I'll look into them and see what I can find.

pandadair · November 2013

kristine526 said:

Yup. I'm going to put my kid in a corner and neglect him/her so I can get work done.

Yup, my full intention was to insult the true SAHM by asking for ways to earn money AND stay at home with LO. I'm sorry that I'm trying to still make money to supplement our family while taking care of LO.

Not. Seriously, way to assume that I'm a bad person and I'm going to be a shitty mom because I want to find a job that allows me to make money from home while taking care of LO.

Maybe my post wasn't clear. I'm not looking to work 8-5 and leave LO to fend for him/herself when I'm working. I'm looking for something that will supplement DH's income that doesn't necessarily have to be done throughout the day, or something that can wait until after DH gets home/LO goes to bed, etc. Maybe it's naive for me to think that it's possible as yes, I'm a FTM, but I'm not an idiot.

Thanks though to the ladies who posted legit ideas. I'll look into them and see what I can find.

I don't see anywhere where anyone implied that you were going to stuff your child in a corner and ignore him/her. You didn't include many details about what you were looking for in your OP, so people were simply pointing out that most traditional WAHM options aren't going to be possible without childcare. I don't think anyone would have brought it up if you'd mentioned that you were looking for something to do around your husband's work hours from the getgo.

As a side note: A Facebook friend of mine works for something called Competent Care Management, and I know she does this from home on her own hours as a supplement. I have no clue what it is, but it's there. And I think the work from home reservations are generally full-time jobs, but it'd still be worth checking out, since obv they take reservations 24 hrs per day.

ETA: I apologize. I didn't see that response from Btcruiserlove, just your last one. I wouldn't give too many shits about anything coming from the person who wants to call CPS on someone who quit smoking a few weeks into their pregnancy.

sweetky_06 · November 2013

kristine526 said:

Yup. I'm going to put my kid in a corner and neglect him/her so I can get work done.

Yup, my full intention was to insult the true SAHM by asking for ways to earn money AND stay at home with LO. I'm sorry that I'm trying to still make money to supplement our family while taking care of LO.

Not. Seriously, way to assume that I'm a bad person and I'm going to be a shitty mom because I want to find a job that allows me to make money from home while taking care of LO.

Maybe my post wasn't clear. I'm not looking to work 8-5 and leave LO to fend for him/herself when I'm working. I'm looking for something that will supplement DH's income that doesn't necessarily have to be done throughout the day, or something that can wait until after DH gets home/LO goes to bed, etc. Maybe it's naive for me to think that it's possible as yes, I'm a FTM, but I'm not an idiot.

Thanks though to the ladies who posted legit ideas. I'll look into them and see what I can find.

Sweetie - since your OP said you were originally looking to do your current job from home, most of us assumed that you were thinking you were going to work a full-time job from home. Context is everything. Your follow up post certainly provided more information.

I certainly didn't think you were going to abandon your child, but like most posters, wanted to make sure you weren't being naive about being able to work 8hrs/day with a baby/toddler at your side.

MrsT2008 · November 2013

you never mentioned this WFH to be purely supplemental, so excuse us for not making that assumption. If you don't need a full time income, you should have said so.

glowworm0166 · November 2013

I work at home two days a week. My boss also wasn't thrilled about the idea when I posed it about a year and a half ago. However, it has worked out really well and he has since changed his stance to "You get the job done and are always available when I need you so I don't really care what you do." That said, I am always available in the office when I need to be here and I have a full-time nanny. Like others have said, if I were watching my son while attempting to do my paid job something would suffer - either my son would be neglected (as that is a full-time position on its own) or my job would suffer and I would lose it. So, my suggestion would be, if you want to work at home, go ahead andask your boss to reconsider - even if it is only one or two days a week. But be sure that you have a plan of attack to run through with him explaining how your performance won't suffer because 1) you'll have childcare either in or out of the home 2) you have a dedicated office space 3) you want to start x number of days a week and want to have a one-on-one with him to discuss how it is going to make sure he is on board with how everything is working out, etc. 4) if he isn't happy you are more than willing to come back into the office full-time (you can always find another job later if it isn't for you). To be honest,my 2 days a week from home really make it possible for me to function as a working mom. No, I'm not watching my son but I don't have to leave for the office at 5:50 am those days so I save a total of 2.5 hrs of travel time that instead I get to spend with him before and after work, we get to eat lunch together and I can usually manage to get my laundry done while on conference calls (otherwise I'm pretty sure I would never have clean clothes). So, if you can try to get him to reconsider I would go for it.

rebecca1198 · November 2013

What about an after-school tutor?

btcruiserlove · November 2013

kristine526 said:
Yup. I'm going to put my kid in a corner and neglect him/her so I can get work done.

Yup, my full intention was to insult the true SAHM by asking for ways to earn money AND stay at home with LO. I'm sorry that I'm trying to still make money to supplement our family while taking care of LO.

Not. Seriously, way to assume that I'm a bad person and I'm going to be a shitty mom because I want to find a job that allows me to make money from home while taking care of LO.

Maybe my post wasn't clear. I'm not looking to work 8-5 and leave LO to fend for him/herself when I'm working. I'm looking for something that will supplement DH's income that doesn't necessarily have to be done throughout the day, or something that can wait until after DH gets home/LO goes to bed, etc. Maybe it's naive for me to think that it's possible as yes, I'm a FTM, but I'm not an idiot.

Thanks though to the ladies who posted legit ideas. I'll look into them and see what I can find.

Very important detail left out. When you say "work from home mom" your implying that.

kristine526 · November 2013

btcruiserlove said:

Yup. I'm going to put my kid in a corner and neglect him/her so I can get work done.

Yup, my full intention was to insult the true SAHM by asking for ways to earn money AND stay at home with LO. I'm sorry that I'm trying to still make money to supplement our family while taking care of LO.

Not. Seriously, way to assume that I'm a bad person and I'm going to be a shitty mom because I want to find a job that allows me to make money from home while taking care of LO.

Maybe my post wasn't clear. I'm not looking to work 8-5 and leave LO to fend for him/herself when I'm working. I'm looking for something that will supplement DH's income that doesn't necessarily have to be done throughout the day, or something that can wait until after DH gets home/LO goes to bed, etc. Maybe it's naive for me to think that it's possible as yes, I'm a FTM, but I'm not an idiot.

Thanks though to the ladies who posted legit ideas. I'll look into them and see what I can find.
Very important detail left out. When you say "work from home mom" your implying that.

No, I'm actually NOT implying that SAHM's don't work. You're taking it that way and that's not my problem, it's yours. From now on I'll refer to it as MMWBASAHM (Making Money While Being a Stay At Home Mom) if that works better for you.

IBackBevo · November 2013

I know women who wahm. First, some have nannies or put their kid in daycare. However, I do know women who split the care with their husband so they have time to do work independent of their child, but don't have to put them in daycare or hire a nanny. My cousin and her husband have this exact arrangement. She gets up early in the morning and works about 5 or 6 am until noon. He works like noon to 8 or so. Then, after he gets home or on the weekends, she gets another few hpurs in. It requires both parties to have flexible jobs and does not leave much time for them as a couple, but it is possible. And especially is possible if someone is not wanting to work full-time. I am not sure why everyone is sooooo offended at the OP just asking a question...and I am also not sure why everyone thinks this is impossible. And, no, I am not a ftm and I work outside the home.

TrendyTina · November 2013

I am a PhD student who also teaches at the university I attend. 2 days a week I teach on campus and DS goes to his grandparents' house. The other days I work from home and let me tell you, it is HARD (if not impossible) to get anything done. In the beginning, it was easier because I could nurse while I did work on the computer and DS basically just slept all the time. Now, I can't even open my computer when he's around because he's sneaking up on me trying to hit buttons and wanting to play. When I try to skype into meetings, it is nearly always a disaster. If you want to have a legitimate career, working from home is about as hard as it gets. Be prepared to NOT sleep EVER.

btcruiserlove · November 2013

kristine526 said:

btcruiserlove said:

kristine526 said:
Yup. I'm going to put my kid in a corner and neglect him/her so I can get work done.

Yup, my full intention was to insult the true SAHM by asking for ways to earn money AND stay at home with LO. I'm sorry that I'm trying to still make money to supplement our family while taking care of LO.

Not. Seriously, way to assume that I'm a bad person and I'm going to be a shitty mom because I want to find a job that allows me to make money from home while taking care of LO.

Maybe my post wasn't clear. I'm not looking to work 8-5 and leave LO to fend for him/herself when I'm working. I'm looking for something that will supplement DH's income that doesn't necessarily have to be done throughout the day, or something that can wait until after DH gets home/LO goes to bed, etc. Maybe it's naive for me to think that it's possible as yes, I'm a FTM, but I'm not an idiot.

Thanks though to the ladies who posted legit ideas. I'll look into them and see what I can find.
Very important detail left out. When you say "work from home mom" your implying that.

No, I'm actually NOT implying that SAHM's don't work. You're taking it that way and that's not my problem, it's yours. From now on I'll refer to it as MMWBASAHM (Making Money While Being a Stay At Home Mom) if that works better for you.

Nor was I saying you were. I'm a stay at home mom...I don't need reassurance that it's not work. I was just saying when you use the acronym WAHM...you made us all believe you thought you could work while staying home with child.

Funnygirl34 · November 2013

Honestly, like the other ladies said there just aren't a lot of WAH jobs that will allow you to be a full-time mom as well. You have completely written off direct sale jobs, but really, that's one of your best bets. That's what I do now that I quit teaching to be home with DS and it works really well for my family, not that it does for everyone.

Want a personalized experience?

WAHM

Re: WAHM

Choose Another Board

Search Boards