When I was in my twenties, I had it all figured out (who doesn't, right?). I was newly married, had just finished my PhD at a top school, and jumped into a job in the corporate world.
I got pregnant with my Rainbow Baby. Life was good.
Agenda:
- Have baby
- Wear prepregnancy pants the following week (giving my body time to bounce back, of course)
- Get back to work
- Resume life
And you know what happened? ONLY NUMBER ONE. That's it.
Motherhood yanked me by the ponytail and didn't let go.
I changed my mind about every single thing I thought I knew. It hit me like a ton of bricks: I wanted to be a stay at home mom. I felt overwhelmed at the thought. I felt desperate for a solution. More than anything, I felt like a professional failure. How in the world would I stay home with my baby while I was still paying off my student loans from grad school? It was CRAZY TALK.
But y'all, I did it.
No, I didn't stop working. I am the primary breadwinner in my home, so that wasn't an option. I made the transition from working in an office to working 100% from home. At that time, the gig economy wasn't as pervasive as it is now, so things were a bit more challenging. Now, there are oodles of different opportunities available, along with companies specifically focused on helping with flexible work (e.g., Werk, The Mom Project, Power to Fly). Because I am incredibly passionate about my field, I opted for online higher education, which was a perfect fit.
I'll admit that it was a slow transition to get here, but in retrospect, each baby step propelled the next one in a way that I couldn't have planned better.
Before you make the jump, ask yourself a few questions:
- How much do you want to work, realistically?
- If needed, what can you cut out to reduce expenses?
- Can you depend solely on your spouse/significant other's income while you search for a job?
- Where will you get benefits?
- Is telecommuting an option for your current job? Don't rule this one out - it can't hurt to ask!
- What type of school arrangements do you plan to use (e.g., homeschool vs. traditional school)? That's another blog altogether, isn't it?
- What can you do to balance your work and mom life if you're working at home?
Then, do the darn thing. Put on your Big Girl Panties and find that job. There generally are two big groups of work from home jobs - selling and non selling. There are many MLM opportunities to check out via social media, so I'll focus here on other types of opportunities.
Job titles for remote work
Blogger.Touche.
Instructor higher educationor English as Second Language
Notary {Here's one mom's story}
Lists of more work from home jobs to check out
Ryan Robinson (great info and advice on remote work)
And websites to search for remote job postings
Prefer to search for a job by company name? Here you go.
That's a lot, am I right? I get it. It isn't going to be easy all the time, but I can tell you that it will be worth it. Even on days when it totally sucks.
{And spoiler alert, there is still mom guilt.}
So, mama, what are you waiting for?
