Work at Home Moms!?

I work part time for a criminal attorney. I love the work I do. In September, my babysitter quit (I have two children). I live an hour away from my closest family members, and I live in a big city, and I really don't trust anyone to watch my children. I have looked into daycare, but it costs per month exactly what I make per month, so I would basically be working to put my kids in daycare.

My boss and I worked out a system where I can work from home most days of the week, and come into the office three mornings. My husband also worked out with his boss some mornings that he could have the baby at work while our oldest is in school. It worked out pretty well, until now.

My boss has wanted me to pick up extra responsibilities. Since I am not in the office as much, there is less time to do the stuff that can only be done at the office. And when I am there, I usually have emergencies to take care of, so it takes a while to get tedious stuff done. Now with all of the extra stuff, things are getting more and more behind.

On top of this, my baby has a vision condition that we are going to the doctor quite a bit for (meaning I miss work), and she has been sick for a long time with a cold and other things that require doctor visits (meaning I miss more work). When I am home, I am trying to work and take care of her, and things get even MORE behind.

Anyway, here is the point of my story. How do you manage all of these stressors as a work at home mom? And is there a point where you really have to evaluate whether to be home with the kids exclusively or work in an office exclusively? This really wouldn't be an issue if I had a support network near me, but I moved away from my family and we can't just up and sell our house right now. Also, my husband is working two jobs to help us, so it is really hard to lose an entire income.

Has anyone been through this before? If so, how did you handle it? Any tips or advice would be greatly appreciated! Thanks for hanging in there since this was so long!

Public Comments

1. You wrote: "This really wouldn't be an issue if I had a support network near me."

I suggest looking into a home business that I'm doing as a stay at home mom. I have a network of people all over the world because of the computer and internet.

My children no longer suffer serious illness, I no longer have my chronic illness that limited me and my husband no longer works two jobs.

The cost of being sick is expensive and the cost to an employee is upwards of about 300 dollars for 3 days missed work, not to mention the rocky situation of keeping your job, because the cost to the employer is productivity loss.

The idea is to prevent illness, live life with more energy, and to collect pay that can reach above and beyond 6 figures through a consumer distribution business that anyone can choose to do from home. My 14 year old daughter is doing it and earning an extra few hundred a month that we put into her CD account.

I did this legally because she has a Tax ID and has her own savings at our Federal Credit Union. The only thing she does is introduce our product line through her friends who share it with their parents. For example, one of her best friends parents, have an 18 month old that was up for a liver transplant. The parents now have a healthy happy and normally functioning little girl.

What we have isn't tupperware it's pretty serious and lucrative. The only requirement is a willingness to serve others and the difference between those who succeed is a diligence to practice good and hard working ethics. This hard work I'm talking about is a labor of love and is fun to do.

I know you may be capable of doing what I do, because my friend Vivian works in Saskatchewan about 10 miles from the nearest town. So, you don't have to be networked with anyone near you. If there is a will, there is a way.

So, see what you think, here: http://www.glycobusiness.com/mannalive and study this for educational purposes only. Go through this step by step. Get to the page with the audio testimonials of families and what they did as employees and how they made the transition to work from home without worrying about losing their job. They simply worked around their job until the checks equaled or surpassed what they made so that they could give their notice to quit their regular job at work.

What I'm suggesting of you is to think outside of the box and to create a life style where you are no longer dependent on somebody else. It's a radical departure from what you are used to, so don't let any fear get in the way of truly looking into what I'm sharing with you.

http://www.glycostory.com/mannalive Science validation

I have a feeling, because of what you wrote, that you are a thinking woman. Even if what I do may or may not appeal to you... I have a feeling you will be okay in the long run.

I wish you and your family well.

Regards,

LLJames

2. Hello, I live in DC and my wife works from home. Our solution was to get an in home day care provider. We found that the corporate type Daycares were way too expensive. We personally interviewed at least 6 prospective providers. We found them all on the Maryland State Website. All the sitters that are listed are regularly inspected by the state, so there is a control system in place. For the few occaisions that we need a case by case sitter, we just registered on sittercity. com. We found that most sitters listed on there are female college students looking for a little extra cash. The typical hourly rate for our area is $5 an hour per child. Most sitters you can haggle a price with though. I hope this helps. Although, I haven't explored this avenue, I know that some states have funding for low income families for the purposes of daycare. One of my friends uses this method.

3. Well, for starters your taking on more than you can chew. What most people dont' understand about work from home is that you are WORKING from home. You honestly don't have the time to give your children and your job all that they deserve. It's physically impossible. You're doing yourself, your babies and your job wrong. Every piece of this puzzle isn't being fulfilled. And don't be down on yourself because you feel it's impossible. It is impossible! You've taken on so much on yourself. You can't do it all. Althought, I'm sure you want to.

It's a never ending battle between woman, what is better for your child.

I recently read a study about child development for stay at home moms vs working moms. The study actually said working mom's children were exposed to more, exposed to a more productive enviroment and therefore, had better development. Dr Phil also supports a working mom by saying stay at home mom's are commonly depressed and take these out on their children. A working mom feels they are making sacrifices for their children by working (Honestly--who wants to work when they can be with their babies?) It's very difficult to give a child everything they need to develop appropriately.

A stay at home mom however, feels very differently about this. They feel that a child needs love more than education stimulation. They feel a baby needs time to just be a baby and they don't want to miss any part of it.

These are 2 different views and approaches. I personally lean towards the working mom because it is the ultimate sacrifice and your baby gets everything that they need and then some.

My suggestion to you is to work 5 days a week. Work from the office 2-3 days and the other from home. That way you won't lose money by working but, yet your children will get the stimulation they really need and the love that you provide as well.

In regards to your baby's health-of course that comes first, I suggest signing up for FMLA with your job just to cover your bottom.

I think you have great intentions and a lot of energy but, you need to know you can't take this on all on your own. Think of it this way:

1. Your babies will get what they need from you and the day care provider
2. You will be doing a great job at work (can anyone say raise?)
3. You won't be as stressed, you can't do this all on your own.

If you don't think this will work, I would look at taking away some of the little extras that you could potentially live without out of your budget and try to work it out.

4. i'm a stay-at-home/working mom also. my husband has his own business for which i'm the secretary,accountant, and when it happens, assistant for much of the time. i'm also responsible for the house, kids, and chores of life. my family lives a hour and a half away also.

maybe, you could ask your family to come for a weekend out of every month, tell your boss that as long as he is willing to work with you, you could have everything finished (that you can do at home)by that weekend. then you could focus your time in the office on the added responsibilities for the office and your family could help with kids,house, and whatever else you need help with and you can focus on getting things finished at home that you were allowed to bring home.

5. Wow! I can really feel your pain. I too work for an attorney and I've worked in both family & criminal law so I can relate to the work issue of your story. I also have a 2 year old that I would love to stay home with so I can also relate to the work at home issue as well. Now, what I think I'm hearing is - how do I organize all this chaos in my life. For 6 months I got to be a stay a home mom after I had my son; my mother had open heart surgery right after my son was born (she's also blind so no way I was leaving her alone in the hospital) so I can even understand trying to juggle and maintain while it seems everyone is pulling at you in all different directions. For me I had to organize at home just as I did at work. I don't get to do laundry while I'm at the office which is something I would try to do as a multi-tasking stay at home mom. Therefore, I had to say "this part of my day is work only" and this part of my day is "baby only" and so this part hubby and home. It was like dividing the pie so to speak. I read an article about stay at home moms and how we tend to let the duties bleed over into other areas. You might try networking with some other stay at home mom support groups - BizyMoms is one that I still read just because I do still have a secret desire to stay home and care for my child and not work in an office all day. Right now, I just haven't found a financial way to get it accomplished. The job you have before you is not easy. Remember, back in the day (and I'm not sure how old you are) but back in the day moms were just that, moms. They stayed at home and took care of the family, which is a full time job in itself; they didn't try to earn money at an office job in addition to taking care of the family. Cut yourself a break and be careful not to multitask yourself right out of sanity. And by the way, if you can't be Super Mom...that's ok too. Don't be too hard on yourself in this process. I did find that as time went by things did fall into a certain rhythm; so much so that when I did go back to the office full time, I had to find my rythem again. I don't know that any of this has helped you at all but you should at least know you're not alone. Good luck to you and your family. I'm quite sure it will all work out for you.

6. I was in a similar situation about a year ago. Ultimately my husband and I decided it was best for me to stay home until the youngest children were able to attend school full-time. This all happened suddenly when my reliable and affordable sitter was unable to sit for me anymore. To put them in child care meant my husband would literally be paying for me to work. In the end it just wasn't worth it (the money or the stress). A year later, I am working a job with great hours and a great boss who completely understands that my family comes first. My two youngest are in school full time now and we even found a lady in our neighborhood to watch them after school. She also sits for some of the teachers here. My suggestion: Save your sanity, your time and money. Stay at home!! If your husband is like mine he thought it would cost him more $ for me to stay at home but it was the opposite. Because there are so many things you can do to save money, become a master thrift shopper and coupon clipper. You will be surprised at all the savings. You will eventually find a reliable sitter, a more flexible job and I guarantee you will love the time you spend with your baby. I hope I have helped to give you some hope in your situation. Remember that even when you feel completely alone, you're not. Everything happens for a reason, breathe and relax. You'll be fine.

7. Are you looking for a professional work environment, while making BIG BUCKS. Well we’re looking for self motivated high school, college students and adults.
Appointment setting experience/phone skills are a plus (will train motivated candidates).

All you need is your own toll free number and unlimited long distance. We will provide the rest.

No Money
Contact Joshua
866-503-9061