Are You Really a Work at Home Mom?
What does it mean to be a work at home mom? Some recent experiences have made me stop and think about whether or not I actually want to be associated with that term. It seems to boil down to two types of women:
1. A mom who is at home with her kids, being a full time mom, who may (or may not) squeeze in a few minutes to work after her kids are in bed, if she’s not too tired or there’s nothing good on television.
2. A mom who is home with her kids, but works her butt off during naps, after bedtime, or whenever her husband or a sitter can keep an eye on the kids. Heck, she probably works while the kids are dragging all the laundry out of the basket, I know I do!
So, why the fuss with the difference? Because if you are a mom who works occasionally, I don’t think that counts as being a work at home mom. This will likely offend some people, but the fact is, if you can’t follow through on jobs that you take on, you can’t be considered a worker. Plain and simple.
Yes, being a mom means you are going to care for your children, possibly at the expense of your work. Yes, life gets in the way sometimes. Yes, it means you work longer hours because you’re doing two jobs instead of just one. BUT. If you can’t hack it, don’t do it.
If you are going to leave clients in the lurch because your son has a school play and needs a costume and you work on that instead of deadlines, guess what? You will lose those clients. You might shake it off and say that your kids come first and you don’t want a client who can’t respect your needs as a mom. They shouldn’t have hired a mom if they weren’t prepared to deal with the interruptions that kids bring.
Am I saying that you should forget your kids and family and just focus on work? No. What I’m saying is that if you can’t balance the two and consistently drop client work to handle family affairs, then you shouldn’t be a work at home mom. It’s not fair to the clients, it’s not fair to you and it is not fair to other wahms who do work hard to make sure their clients are happy.
You cannot be a full time mom, with a few minutes of work sprinkled here and there and expect people to pay you for it. Not to mention it gives wahms everywhere a bad name and that is just not cool.
I feel that I meet all of the criteria for a Wahm. =)
Amen Sister!
Tell people you’re a Work at Home Mum and they instantly percieve you as being less than professional. And cheaper, because of course you don’t have overheads and the value of your work is less.
And it’s the hobbyist WAHM who encourages this perception.
So many women don’t view their business as a real busines, and so they don’t treat it as such. And that’s where the lack of caring comes in.
I wrote a post on this back in April http://wahmbizbuilder.com/business-real-or-just-playing/
So many WAHMs wouldn’t treat a day job, outside the home, the way they treat their own business. It’s a question of attitude as much as anything else.
Working at home is really hard, most of the time. It’s easier to leave home and go to a job. Really. Unfortunately, so many women don’t realise this until they’re knee deep in the business and trying to dig their way out of the overwhelm. They realise they’ve taken on too much, it’s not what they thought it would be, the business is taking up so much time, the kids aren’t getting as much attention as they’d like, and they fall apart.
It is really sad.
Hi Ladies,
I completely agree! I have recently started with a home based business and although I do find it hard to balance at times I know it’s mine so I work at it all throughout my day!
Too many “wahm” out there are presueing opportunity after opportunity and looking for the get rich quick when really you just need to find something that you are passionate about and give it your all!!
I have found my passion and I love waking up every morning and know I am helping people!!
Jenn Bain
403-912-1250
jennbain@telus.net
http://www.wealthandwellnessfromhome.com
http://www.livetotalwellness.com/jbain
Hello, I am a work at home mom. I believe first of all you have to find something that you’re passionate about and second you have to make a commitment to give 100% and third you have to get organized with your time.
I fully appreciate what Belinda says in her comments above. It is sad that some moms still don’t view their home business as a real busines. The attitude towards yourself and towards your business is important. Me, I am always passionate about my home based business and feel very happy to be able to help many people and generate good income in the process. A home business is not a hobby. I am proud that many moms have already proven that they can run their home businesses professionally!
I find if you work “part time” on your business you get “part time results”. Working seriously gets serious results…
I could not agree with you! Having recently started with my own home based business, I know it is not easy to balance the business time and the household responsibilities, but I do whatever I can to determine my working hours throughout the day and remain professional.
The most important is to find something you are passionate about and go for it, 100%. Do not jump from opportunity to opportunity simply because they seem to be more attractive. You might end up waisting more time and sounding unprofessional.
i also Work At Home by blog monetizing and website monetizing. i mainly get my online income by means of Google Adsense.
working at home really a big risk regardless of being a mom considering your kids first taking care of them everyday second food third attention.
hmmp. i enjoy reading the post and when i read it i remember my mom. i feel great to have a mom like her and also sad because i`m just living easy go lucky not thinking that my mom work so hard for me… T_T
i enjoy Working at Home by being in affiliate programs and earning money online. by working at home, i could have more time with my kids.