Being a mother is a full-time job, even for the women who experience working motherhood. Discover the bittersweet success of the work at home mom.
How hard is it to go from stay at home mom to work at home mom? The kids are young, the cash flow is down, and the days only seem to be getting shorter. For many mothers, it seems like a great idea to become a work at home mom, staying with the kids and bringing in some money, too. The truth is, self employment isn’t easy…but it’s nothing compared to trying to raise a family. How could any woman do both at once?
The Work at Home Mom
For those women who are good at time management, have tons of patience, and know how to reasonably operate a computer, being a work at home mom could be a viable money-making option. One of the biggest draws of self employment is that it can be conducted from home, so parents won’t have to leave their children with child care professionals or day care institutions.
Bittersweet Success
Nothing is ever as easy as it sounds, however, and the truth is that work at home moms still have to do a lot of work. Imagine going to the office and conducting a normal business day. Now imagine there’s a toddler standing right there, asking questions, moving things around on the desk, and demanding attention. This is the every day world of the work at home mom…and for many, it’s a little daunting.
Working at home sounds great…but it’s still real work. There are deadlines, projects, resumes, cover letters, and bosses. Some employers don’t pay what they ought to when they ought to, and some work has to be hunted and tracked – a full-scale Internet mission. Even finding work at home jobs can be a huge chore, time-consuming and stressful. Compound all this with a child who needs almost constant care and attention, and all that remains is a woman who’s got a pretty full plate to contend with.
Working Motherhood
Don’t take on too much. Find the best jobs for work at home moms, tasks that won’t demand too much time and attention. Most mothers agree that motherhood has to come first, so be careful about getting locked into deadlines or accepting too many projects at once. It’s okay to say “I can’t handle that right now,” or to pass on a money-making project. In self employment, reputation is important. It’s much better to pass on a project than to miss a deadline. Wisely use time management and work at home strategies to get both the work and the child-raising done.
Being successful with work at home is usually the result of a lot of devotion and time. Throw parenthood into the mix, and success becomes a little bittersweet. Some moms may struggle with devoting time to work, because they feel it’s necessary to devote time for the kids. Use the in-between times (naps, meals, play time) to get work done, and integrate work and motherhood into working motherhood. For everyone, work at home is a path of self-discovery.
