Home Job Mom's Guide To Employment and Life
There is an entire community of work at home professionals otherwise
known by the title “soccer mom”. With the unstable economy and the
cost of living rising dramatically each year, gone are the days when mom is
home cooking casseroles all day while dad is out in the workforce making a
living.
Many families must have a 2 parent income just to stay on top of the
bills. However, what if you have young children that are not yet old
enough to go to school? Working outside the home would mean placing
them in daycare. Daycare is expensive and when paying for multiple
children, can add up very quickly often to a sum greater than you are even
paying for a mortgage or rent. What can happen is that one parent’s
entire income dissolves just to cover daycare expenses. Now you don’t
have any extra money and you don’t get to see your kids either making you
ask yourself “Why did this sound like a good idea”? Essentially you
are working so someone else can raise your children.
To avoid this problem, many mothers have turned to work at home
opportunities as the solution. This gives them the flexibility to stay
at home with their children while bringing in a little extra income, which
after all, was the original goal. There are some critical things you
must take into consideration if you plan to be a work at home mom.
1 – Support groups
I can’t stress enough how important it is to have a support system.
But, if you have been a stay at home mom, you likely already know that.
Essentially when you decide to be a work at home mom, you are accepting 2
jobs. Anyone who doesn’t think being a stay at home mom qualifies as a
job has never had to jump out of the shower to put out a stove fire, find a
missing pacifier and stop a child from escaping out the front door.
Being a mom is one of the hardest jobs around. Add the element of
professional work and you can very quickly start to feel like the mental
institution doesn’t look like such a scary place at all.
Support groups are necessary to success as a work at home mom.
There are many forums online for support and you can use them for a variety
of reasons ranging from finding work, venting, or sharing mommy stories.
Another option for support is to rally with other work at home moms in your
area to take turns watching each other’s kids. If you can gather 4 or
5 other moms you can not only build a circle of friends (which is not easy
to do once you have children), but also construct a rotation schedule.
This presents the possibility of 4 kid-less days and only 1 day with a house
full of screaming children.
2 – Exercise and eat right
Many moms loose their sense of self when attempting to take on the
responsibility of motherhood. Don’t forget that your physical well
being is your most important asset. There will be no working or
playing if your body becomes lethargic and run down due to lack of care.
Plan to have healthy snacks in the house so you aren’t tempted to raid the
kid’s Halloween candy. Studies have shown that a good diet complete
with exercise lowers your risk of depression. With more and more stay
at home moms on anti-depressants; it is clear that this is a high risk
group. It’s better to beat this beast before it ever shows its
presence.
If you are bringing in money, but are physically and emotionally
unavailable to your children then your hard work will likely not be worth
it. Most gyms offer daycare that are either included in the monthly
pass, or have very low hourly rates. If you don’t want to join a gym,
go for a walk every morning to get your coffee rather than making it at
home. Another option is to buy a yoga video or set aside some time for
quiet meditation each day. In addition, you will feel better if you
can make it a point to get out of your house at least once a day.
3 – Include your children
If you have young children at home with you during your work hours, get
creative and find a way to include them rather than isolate them while you
work. It can be tempting to place them in front of the television.
Not only is this not healthy for them, but it probably won’t entertain them
for a extended amount of time. Explain to them what you are doing and
let them help. They can do simple tasks like retrieving supplies or
stuffing envelopes. It might be a good idea to set up a pretend office
space for them to “work” as well. Set them up with a small desk, old
phone, papers and crayons. Generally, if children are included in
something they will not feel an overwhelming need to beg for attention.
Stock up on lots of fresh new items to keep them busy. The dollar
store is a great place to find a variety of disposable items for your
children at a very low cost.
Lastly, remember why you are working. Don’t forget that your children are learning how to become adults and the strongest way to learn is by watching someone else. Show them the possibilities for their own future by maintaining a healthy, balanced work life while taking the time to nurture both yourself as well as your family.
