Any WAHMs?

[michlyn]

For those of you who work at home, what do you do?

[JulieL]

I do marketing for my dad's company. He is a crane broker. He has something like 20,000 contacts that I contact. I find out what they are buying and selling and relay the info to him. It's when I'm on hold or talking to a receptionist that I post online. I've been working for my dad for 3 years and will hopefully do so for another 2 years until DH has a job in a medical residency. It works well and I can stay home w/DS. Though last year I HAD to put him in preschool (5 hours a week) to get some extra work in.

So that's me! :)

[DebbieJ]

I am a kitchen consultant with The Pampered Chef.

I make phone calls and do paperwork during the day (mostly during naps) and do kitchen shows in the evenings and weekends. I'm considering putting ds in a Mother's Morning Out program at a local church one or two mornings a week in the fall so I can get a few hours a week when I can really focus on my business.

~ deb
DS born at home 12/03

http://www.windsorpeak.com/dc/user_files/10029.gif

[jubilee]

I do medical billing at home part time. I work for the same surgeon that I had worked for prior to having Logan. I totally set my own hours and don't do work until Logan is down for bed at night.

[psophia17]

I make cloth diapers for sale online. I've only done it for a few months now, but with luck this will be long term (I have 1000 labels to use up). It's a great creative outlet, and the market is there, so I'm working hard to get it going.

[mudder17]

I don't know that I really qualify as a WAHM. For the last few summers (even when I was working full-time), I've successfully gotten an NSF grant to work with a professor at UMBC. I've done anything from literature searches to putting together power point presentations, to analyzing chemical structures, to taking dictation, to giving presentations at professional meetings. But it's only during the summer and it's a temporary thing. I think this will be the last year we can do this, though as his grant is expiring this year.

I'm hoping when Kaya gets a little older to start a private tutoring business.


Eileen

http://www.mothering.com/discussions/images/smilies/candle.gif for Leah

http://www.gynosaur.com/assets/ribbons/ribbon_gold_12m.gif , 16 months & counting


http://tickers.baby-gaga.com/t/catcatcvi20040222_4_Kaya+is.png

[mama2galpals]

i freelance (writing and editing) from time to time. i did ALOT of work last year but since january i haven't been working.


rita
mommy to
olivia '97
stella '00
emma '03

There is no remedy for love but to love more.
--Henry David Thoreau

http://lilypie.com/baby3/030123/3/4/1/+10/.png

[mommyj_2]

I'm working on a degree, but am also working at home as a sales consultant for the Natural Family Boutique. It's a lot of fun (throwing spa parties, doing online baby showers for people out of state, setting up baby registries,etc.) I also love that I get a discount on natural and organic baby products and HABA toys.

[sidmand]

I have my own business designing and laying out the interior of books. To most people I just say I'm a graphic designer, because most people don't even realize that the INTERIOR is often designed and/or created too. (No Grandma, I have nothing to do with the COVER--I know it's beautiful, but I did the inside...choosing fonts, creating sidebars...)

I'm trying to figure out how exactly to work it with a newborn. Until now, my business was my baby! It took a long time to get going and I'm not ready to give it up--but I want to spend as much time as possible with DS.

Okay, Mommy Guilt kicking in!

Debbie

Mom to Sawyer!
http://lilypie.com/baby1/060607/0/3/1/-5/.png (http://lilypie.com)

[holliam]

I'm a software engineer. I design user interfaces for phones. :) I am a full-time telecommuter, but DH is a SAHD.

Holli

[jamsmu]

I own an online store, Precious Personalities. I hope to open it as a brick and mortar boutique in the future--but distant future as we want to be finished having kids first.

[kristine_elen]

I used to be a journalist at a large metro daily. Now that I'm a mom, I do some freelance writing and editing -- journalism and marketing.

[ehmom]

i take care of my mom who has ALS while my dad is at work.

[slknight]

Holli, me too! Me too! I'm a software developer who telecommutes full-time and DH is a SAHD. :) We are all home, all the time. (In 1000 square feet, I might add. It gets to be pretty close quarters when we're snowed in in February.) I never feel like WAHM really applies to me because I'm not self-employed and can't really set flexible hours. I've got scheduled conference calls and what-not. Is there an acronym for us? Maybe WFHM (work FROM home mom)?

[holliam]

Oh my gosh that is too funny! The hardest thing for us is we have a large house but it's arranged totally wrong. So, the family room where they are most of the time if they're home directly on the other side of my office, and our personal computer room is between them. So, if DH runs in to check his mail, I suddenly have a cute crawler coming to visit me. I totally love it unless I'm in a meeting or against deadlines! LOL

Yes, I will happily join you as a WFHM!

Holli

[slknight]

Holli, we're in a 3-bedroom ranch but fortunately we have a partially-finished basement. My office is downstairs. It used to be the spare bedroom, but I could not get anything done. I'd be on a conference call and all I would hear is "Mama! Mama!" It actually works pretty well for me to go downstairs and close the door. I'm always looking at houses (going to open houses is almost a hobby of mine, lol) and all I'm ever concerned about is the floor plan. My office definitely needs to be removed from wherever DH and DS are. You may find it difficult as Mari gets older to be so close.

[aliceinwonderland]

How very cool. In my dream world, I write :)

e.

[laurena]

I freelance 2 days a week doing what I used to do for a different agency. I'm lucky that my mom can watch my DD while I'm working during the day since meetings and client presentations can't necessarily always happen when DD is sleeping. :)

[Mommy_Again]

I am looking for work!

I just signed on to be a representative for Rags Land (adorable clothes sold at trunk shows), but am also looking for part time, from home marketing or advertising work (what I did in my former life).

I also chair a committee for the Junior League which takes up a lot of time but pays zilch.

[pixelprincess]

I am setting up an online store to sell home and baby stuff. I am a visual designer by trade...print and web. I have had a love affair with textiles for years and started importing stuff from India a few years back. After the baby, aah life changed... and I decided to include my shopping obsession for all things baby into my online store. It has been a work in progress for a long time so I can't wait for it to be live.

DS is in daycare two days a week which helps me get stuff done. I dream of opening a little tea shop and selling gift items someday :-)

[JLiebCamm]

Me too :) In fact, I kept telling my DH that if we bought a laptop I'd start writing. Well, we got one for Christmas and I keep *thinking* about the fact that I should start writing.

[JLiebCamm]

Hugs to you. That would be a very hard thing to go through.

[kristine_elen]

Yeah, guys, but here we are ... "writing" on the boards instead. Sigh.

[holliam]

Yea, this is not our permanent house. We're just renting since the plan was to build a house when we moved to NC, but we put it on hold to work on the adoption instead. Believe me, I have a plan for my future office! ;) The room I use now is designed as an office and has all the hookups, etc. in it.

Holli

[kellyotn]

I do a bit of work for the construction company my DH works for. Billings, mailings, timecards, marketing. Its nice. I don't know what I'd be able to do from home otherwise! My background is in engineering/project management, so not a very "from home" type of work.

If I could do college over, I'd have studied something else. Oh well. :-)

[michlyn]

It's really great to see that there's such a breadth of jobs out there for the WAHMs. I'm impressed! I'm currently working in corporate full-time, and someday, I hope to be one of you!! :-)

[michlyn]

I agree with pp. That's pretty amazing.

[aliceinwonderland]

some good advice I recently got was to set a specific time for writing everyday, and do it EACH day...I'm now working on this.

Self-censorship is my worst problem. I hate what I write.

e.

[Fairy]

I work part time. I commute into the city (2 hours one way) on Mondays, my mother comes to the house at 5:45am, I leave for the train, then take a train home that gets me back into the house by 6pm. Then my now 9-month-old eats at 6pm, then goes down for the night at 7pm. That's the hard day when I don't see him much.

Tueseday and Wednesday I work from home. My son gets me up when he wakes at about 6am or 6:30. We have breakfast, do books, hang out while Mommy showers, get baby dressed, play a little, then I drive him to daycare (couple in their home) down the street by 8:30am. I pick him up at about 4:45, and we spend time together till dinner and bed time.

Thursday and Friday I don't work. Daddy is often working out of town Mon - Thursday, so Fridays thru Sundays are special family time for everyone.

[ribbit1019]

Right now I am a WOHM, but am going to be a WAHM starting Feb '06. I am opening a natural baby website store with a friend of mine.
Our site isn't live yet, but it is in the works...
Right now we are deciding which products to go with and starting to contact Manufacturers. Designing the logos, website etc.
This is very tiring as I am in my first trimester and EXHAUSTED...

Christy
Maddy - binkie free as of 6/28/05

http://lilypie.com/baby2/040609/3/4/0/-5/.png
Grow Baby Grow!
http://lilypie.com/days/060301/4/0/0/-5/.png

[knaidel]

I'm a freelance indexer. You can read more about what that is at www.asindexing.org
I have a Master's in library science- that's where i learned indexing, and then I had a job indexing periodicals in a university library. I started freelancing this past fall. It's been slow, but now things are starting to move.

[MichelleRC]

I own an online baby store for boys. I have a retail/marketing background (& 2 boys!) so this is a perfect thing for me.

I love being my own boss & making all the decisions--I seem to have issues with other people telling me what to do. :)

I return emails, update my website and talk to vendors & reps when the boys are napping or watching a video, and pack and ship orders after they go to bed.

Best decision I ever made!

[Corie]

I love the Homer Simpson quote! It made me laugh out loud!
I agree with Homer about doughnuts and could eat them for
breakfast, lunch and dinner. :)

Aren't doughnuts one of the four food groups?

[jamsmu]

"I also chair a committee for the Junior League which takes up a lot of time but pays zilch"

I know what you mean... I was president of our MOMS Club chapter. Great experience, but hours of unpaid work!

[Eloise36]

I teach sign language classes for kids 6 months - 7 yrs, and am also the president of my local MOMS Club, all of which keeps me extremely busy. DS is in a Mommies Morning Out Program 2 mornings a week, and at a home-based daycare 1 morning a week while I teach classes.

[kellij]

I attempt to do legal work from home. I do primarily estate planning and probate work. I've been running into the same problem it sounds like some other moms have been dealing with, it's too hard to get much done from home, so I'm putting DS in a Mother's Day Out program starting in September. I think I'll get so much more done!

[pixelprincess]

hee hee Corie. Dh the wannabe Homer would agree 100%.

[g-mama]

Wow, that must be hard work, physically and emotionally, especially with two small children. You must be a very special woman. Hugs to you, mama.


Kristen
Paolo 11-00
Benjamin 8-03
and a third one coming in december '05!

[g-mama]

Wow, that must be hard work, physically and emotionally, especially with two small children. You must be a very special woman. Hugs to you, mama.


Kristen
Paolo 11-00
Benjamin 8-03
and a third one coming in december '05!

[mary b]

I work PT a total of 16 hours/week, 8 of which are from home. I work for a publishing company and do lead generation/sales/support. I spread out the hours throughout 3 days i am home and keep Thursdays for 'catch up' days and to check emails. For the summer, I have a teen girl who comes to my house 5 hours a week and in the fall, I will have a combo of Preschool and MMO for my girls while I work. I started with this company 3 years ago PT between 24-30 hours all in the office and have gradually changed things up. It's works pretty well most of the time!

Mary
Mom to Noelle and Lindsey

[Kimberly H]

I process insurance claims for TRICARE (military medical benefits) and on Monday I start doing it from home!! HUGE quota and I'll be home with our 2.5 year old, but hey, it beats going into the office every day. Mia's been in daycare since I went back to work after our trip to China so this will be a real change for all of us. I'll still have the ability to drop her off at her "old school" as needed and Grandma lives nearby but has a busy life of her own.

I did work from home before as a program manager at AOL but the boys were in preschool/kindergarten already.

I'm S-L-O-W-L-Y beginning my photography business too so I can give up the claims processing job. :)

ETA: egads, had to update the avatar!

[coloradomom]

I am thinking of becoming an Arbonne consultant- does anyone here do that already? I love the product and am thinking it could be a good way to earn some extra income.
During the school year I am also a math tutor.
Great to hear there are sooo many options to earn some $$

[jd11365]

I'm the co-manager of a mentoring program for my school district. I recruit mentors for 3rd grade students at low-performing schools. It's just 13 hours per 7 day week, and much of it is done during naptimes or at night. My co-manager is my neighbor and friend who has a son who is Kayla's age. We can help watch each other's child if either of us has a meeting.

I also teach an education class at my local college. It's a total of 2 hours (including the commute back and forth to home), twice a week. My friend (same one as above) watches Kayla and usually has a playdate with our playgroup at that time, so it works great. It's also a great way to recruit mentors for my other job, so that's an added bonus!

[Puddy73]

I am both a WOHM and WAHM who attempts to legal work (commercial finance and real estate development) with a little one underfoot, too. I'm allowed to work at home in the afternoons, but now that DD is so active, it just doesn't work unless I bribe her with TV and snacks, which makes me feel like an awful mommy. Even when I do work at home, I sometimes take her to the babysitter's house.

Jennifer
Mommy to Annabelle 9/03 & a little pumpkin due 10/05

"Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but by the moments that take our breath away."

[mekiemom]

Hi Rachel,

I'm also a Librarian with an MLS and have been interested in doing freelance indexing from home as well. I enjoyed indexing/abstracting and cataloging while in school but never applied it professionaly. I really enjoyed cataloging but in the public libraries I was in most of it was outsourced. I worked mostly in Youth Services and Reference. I've never met anyone else who did this so would you mind if I e-mailed you with some questions? I'd love to know what it's "really" like as I've heard different opinions from a message board I used to frequent on the subject. I also bought the book "the art of indexing" with recommendations from others on an indexing listserv.

Thanks,

Jennifer
Miss Meg (3/02)

[michlyn]

On one of my other boards, there's a mama who swears by this company. She loves it.

[bonbon98]

I've been doing wholesale for the last 3 months - I'm thinking of jumping on board and starting the business. Can't say enough about the company and their products!

Bonny
Mom to E&E 5/7/02

[vikivoly]

I have a home based photography business. I do a lot of on location shoots, but most of my time goes into the behind-the-scenes work, which is done from home. I like it, but find that it is really difficult especially with 2 young children. Since I deal a lot with customers and their schedules it's hard for me to find childcare because my schedule is so inconsistant.

[knaidel]

of course. email me through the boards. Also, Pam (tiapam) told me about a yahoo group called SAHMlibrarians, about various WAH options for MLS moms.

[jesseandgrace]

I'm joining the crowd and I am starting to write from home since it has been 2 years since I have practiced law, although I think I will go back to it in the next few years. DH also works from home, he is a painter/artist, so sometimes we want to kill eachother both being here together all the time, LOL.

[coloradomom]

>I've been doing wholesale for the last 3 months - I'm
>thinking of jumping on board and starting the business. Can't
>say enough about the company and their products!
>
Bonny- I would love to chat with you more on this product. I am trying to get as much info as possible before I sign up. My sil has been doing it for 4 months and has already replaced her teaching salary and will get her mercedes in Sept!!!!! SHe is very very gun-ho about it as you can imagine. I am just wondering what you have seen and heard about the company. Any input would be wonderful.