Work At Home Adventures

Dr. Laura certainly has her enemies but you have to appreciate how she encourages parents to raise their own children rather than farm them out to daycare.  Her latest is about stay at home moms and the Amazon description reads like this:

They number in the millions and they are incredibly important to families and to our society, yet they are underappreciated, little respected, and even controversial.

Who are they?

They are the stay-at-home moms.

These are women who know in their hearts that staying home to raise their children is the right choice for the whole family. Some do it from the outset of their marriages, while others make the difficult transition from career-driven women to homemakers. Either way, it is a choice that is incredibly rich and rewarding, not to mention challenging.

Now Dr. Laura, building on principles developed during her long career as a licensed marriage and family therapist, provides a wealth of advice and support, as well as compassion and inspiration, to women as they navigate the wonders and struggles of being stay-at-home moms.

Learn how:

• to hold your head high and deal with naysayers;
• to see the benefits of being home not only for your children but also for your marriage;
• to understand the changes you see in yourself;
• to realize that the sacrifices you endure now will make for lasting bonds and a stronger family, in addition to a more cohesive community.

In Praise of Stay-at-Home Moms is a special book, a profound and unique understanding of how important it is for mothers to raise their own children.

Working at home is great especially if you have children.  The trick is to get organized and manage your time so that your business gets the attention it needs and your children get the attention they need.  Here are a few of your options:

1.  If you are married or have a partner then try shift working.  One of you will work traditional days and then watch the children at night so the other partner can work. This will be hard on your relationship but it won’t last forever.  Make sure you make time for each other on the weekends.

2.  Use day care.  This isn’t the idea option because you want to raise your children yourself but what if you need to work for money or because you are single?  Choose carefully and find daycare that will take your children part time.  Then you can work while they nap and take them to daycare for a few hours after they awake.

3.  Hire a babysitter.  Find an experienced babysitter who will work in your home, if possible, or out of your home for a few hours a day.

4.  Trade off with other parents.  Have another parent keep your child for a few hours a week so you can work at home and then reciprocate by taking their of their children on other days.

5.  Ask a relative like your parents or a sibling to take care of your children a few hours a day so you can work.

Once your children are school age then you can work while they are in school and then spend the rest of the day with them when they get home.  Ask your older children to help you with your business.  This can free you from clerical work and help your children feel they are contributing to the household.  My son was labeling, stamping and stuffing envelopes by time he was eight! I recommend the book below to help you get started on your work at home success!

The Publishers Weekly had this to say about This Is How We Do It:

Among PTA meetings at 9:30 a.m. on weekdays, managers who glare when a woman ducks out for her kid’s pediatrician’s appointment, and daycare that costs more than tuition at a state college, how do working mothers even get through the day? Working Mother magazine CEO Evans addresses this question by describing her experiences as a high-powered executive and mother, along with the experiences of the magazine’s readership. A “baby boomer feminist,” Evans compares (more…)

Are you a nursing mom that has to go back to work after having your baby?  This book will show you how to continue to breastfeed while returning to work.  You don’t have to wean your little one. In Nursing Mother, Working Mother: The Essential Guide for Breastfeeding and Staying Close to Your Baby After You Return to Work, Gale Pryor has written a nuts-and-bolts guide for nursing and working at the same time. Pryor breast-fed each of her two children while working full-time outside the home, and her experience and voice of reassurance informs this book. She makes a strong (more…)