I'm sure there's a similar post somewhere, but what do you WAH mommas do careerwise? Even if you don't WFH perse and have a flexible job, what is it? We are thinking about expanding our family and if we do, it's something I'd seriously have to consider. I was a SAHM for 2.5 years and then went back to work when my second was almost a year. I've been WOH for two years now but have slowly started to look at other opportunities thinking about possible life logistics in the future... feeling so lost!
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I don't WAH but I have a pretty flexible job where if I need to stay home with a sick kid I can. Or if I have a doctor's appointment etc, I can just go and not worry about making up the time as long as my work is done. I'm in corporate finance and there are usually only a few weeks every quarter where I really need to be in the office.
I have a friend that works in HR for a tech company and she works from home. She is able to take her girls to school and pick them up.
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I don't WFH but a close friend of min works for pharmaceutical company managing trials and cases at hospitals or something? She used to have to travel but now she works from home 100%.
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I am both a WFH and WOH mom. Both careers are P/T so I have more than an ample amount of time with my children, husband, and to manage the home. Our finances aren't as plentiful as when I was a FT educator; however, I enjoy the opportunity and time to do as I need and wish with my day. When I teach (currently - English classes, adult ed.), I'm at an educational institution for lessons. All lesson planning and paper corrections are done at home.
I'm also a NASM-certified personal trainer with a degree in Exercise Science and one in Biomechanics. I train clients in many locations (eg. my home, their homes, parks, community centers, etc since gyms will charge a percentage fee to trainers to use their equipment), but, primarily, in my gym at home which takes up our entire 3rd floor. At this time, the flexibility of my schedule between maintaining both jobs is phenomenal.
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I work at home. I used to be a freelance motion graphics designer for TV networks and I do illustrations on the side (eg. I illustrated for Weddingbee back then).
After DS was born in 2012, my job was too much and I needed a way to transition out to something less demanding. In 2014 I transitioned into art licensing, and now I am an illustrator for children's books (I am the illustrator for the ongoing "Baby Loves Science" board book series), gifts, toys/puzzles, cards/stationery, wall art, home decor...etc.
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@irene: What an awesome job! Did you design your HB avatar? If so, it is adorable.
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@Kaohinani: Thanks-- Yes I did!
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I teach ESL online to Chinese kids. It’s very PT right now. I work a couple of hours 7 days/week in the early mornings and some Friday/Saturday nights. It works for us because DH can wake up with LO and is very flexible when he has to go into the office. I pick my hours, can take off whenever and they’re super understanding if I need to cancel last minute. There are a lot more hours in the summer and I was able to cover our rent those months. Now that it’s slower, I’ll probably only be able to cover groceries, eating out and basic household items. Not super lucrative, but really makes a difference overall.
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@annem1990: My friend does that too. I was just about to sign up with magic ears but they want a minimum 6 month commitment and my second baby is due in 4 months, I will definitely be signing up when I come off of mat leave.
I’m an elementary school teacher so I plan on WOH part time, and doing the online teaching to supplement. -
@annem1990: do you do VIPkid?
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@WinterBee: I was a former elementary teacher too. It’s been really awesome. I work for QKids. It seems most companies are on a hiring freeze at the moment because school is back in session and hours are less. There are lots of companies out there that are similar but have different platforms, rules etc. From my research, QKids was the most flexible and they book for you (rather than waiting on parents to find you in the huge database). They do pay around $2 less/hour than others, but you get a lot more classes right off the bat which meant more $$ overall.
I was hired and had a 10-day trip a week later. They were totally cool with that and as soon as I got back was scheduled normally. That sort of flexibility is what I wanted. -
I do a bunch of piano stuff, both during the day and at night. The daytime stuff is limited because I have to find childcare, but it's also nice to get a break. A lot of my work is at night though, when DH can be home with the kids. Piano lessons pay reasonably and everyone has kids so they understand if i have to cancel.
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@DesertDreams88: QKids. VIPKid does pay a couple dollars more/ hour, but there were some things that I didn’t like about their platform. They really encourage lots of props and I just wasn’t willing to spend $$ on a job. You also rely on parents to book your classes and then rate you. This can make it hard to get classes at first because you have very few ratings. With QKids I was teaching like 25-30 classes/week right off the bat (in the summer).
The upside to VIPKid is of course the higher pay, and it’s all (I think?) one-on-one. You often have the same kids and get to see them grow. With QKids it’s totally random. I doubt I’ve ever seen the same kid twice and I’ve taught hundreds of lessons. -
@annem1990: cool, thanks for the info - I'm certified K-12 and the bulk of my experience is ELA & SS, grades 5 & 8.
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I don't fully WFH, but my job is super flexible so I can work from anywhere as long as the work gets done. I am in a nonprofit, focusing on professional development training for the federal government.
My unsolicited 2 cents on WFH and parenting at the same time, I've never been able to make it work effectively, unless your kids are really good at doing their own thing. Mine is 5 now, and on sick days and such, I can usually carve out a few hours when she's playing on her own or watching TV, but generally, I've never been able to WFH with a kid at home at the same time. I know lots of people do, but it never quite worked for me. I'm thrilled to have the flexibility I do, but I do still have to take sick time and leave for kid related things. But it does make it easier to pop up for errands or laundry or whatever when I'm not in the office.
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@snowjewelz: I've seen a lot of those roles but many require prior healthcare experience which I don't have. In terms of skill set, it seems to be general PM however I can see why the prior experience would help.
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I could do my office job from home at least 3 days a week if I desired. My company is really good about having remote access and the supporting services, but the idea is that the set up is just like it would be in the office, with children in childcare (or in the care of a person other than the worker).
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@irene: That is really, really neat. My cousin in law also illustrated for children's books and loved it. Mostly does freelance now but some of her stuff was on J. Crew shirts and Anthro home products! I wish I was more creative... so jealous!
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@Mrs. Carrot: I agree, it can get overwhelming trying to balance both jobs (your actual job and also parenting). I think I'd probably have to hire part time help if I ever ended up WFH.
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@Kaohinani: That is so awesome you train your clients all over town. I think you're in GA, are you in Atlanta or near the metro? So cool you have so many degrees...both left and right brained skill sets! Can we get pregnant already btw?!
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@SupernovaJ: My friend def did not study anything healthcare BUT she started with them fresh out of college so it's prob slightly different.
And most other WFM parents I know have IT jobs.
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@irene: I love the Baby Loves Science books, that's so fun!
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@annem1990: @WinterBee: Before I went back to work, I did look for part time work briefly and interviewed with GVE, a similar company. I totally didn't get the call back! But I have zero teaching experience so I wasn't all that surprised.
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@irene: Oh wow, that's amazing! We love those books. Our 1.5 year old daughter's very favorite books are Baby Loves Quarks and Baby Loves Thermodynamics! Your illustrations are fabulous.
I WFH once a week (WOH the rest), and I'm a lawyer, so probably not that helpful for your question. But I agree with some of the previous posters that you really need childcare in order for this to work - I would not be able to WFH without a full-time nanny who is working when I am. Different for school-aged kids, of course.
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@SupernovaJ: Thanks, Super! You are such a sweetheart
You are 100% correct - It is about time we got our "sticky BFP baby beans!"
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I’ve been WAH for 8 years. I’m a self-employed, free-lance translater. However, translation is on a slow death march thanks to automation, so I’m starting a Master’s this fall to go in a very different direction.
@looch: @Mrs. Carrot: exactly. For me to make it work, I MUST have childcare. I cannot work with my LOs underfoot. I mean, I’ve done it, but it can be extremely frustrating and it’s a way of working that is unsustainable. I also can’t just work when they nap as I need long blocks of uninterrupted time. These days, it’s rare I work at night or on the weekends, but I used to do it when I was building up my client base. I’m in a position now where I can and do refuse projects every week so that I can prioritize my work/life balance, otherwise I could literally work every day.
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I work a number of part time jobs (a nonprofit and teaching preschool), but I teach online with VIPKID in the mornings from home. I enjoy it, but I’ve cut back this year because I’m pregnant and exhausted
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@annem1990: yes, all one-on-one, and I almost never see new students
I’ve been fully booked since the start, but I like the flexibility of not having a minimum number of hours or anything.
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@SupernovaJ: Anthropologie! A million girls will die for having their work there!
@MrsSCB: @Beehive: Thanks! My all time favorite is the Quarks one. Sketching for the 10th book as of right now!@Kaohinani: I am in GA too! I am in Brookhaven, which can sometimes feel like an hour away from ATL with traffic lol
I agree with everyone on childcare - Even though I've been WFH the whole time, I always either have a full time nanny or DS was in daycare / school. It was impossible to do anywork with DS at home, especially when he was much younger. It is much better now at 6 as he is able to leave us alone for hours at a time playing LEGO and what not, so with school holidays it is more manageable than before.
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I WFH full time and I work in finance (investing & retirement specifically).
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@mrswilson2012: Is your company generally remote? I don't know many people who work in finance that WFH... I used to work in finance as well, but the culture was definitely not for telecommuting. I worked in NYC though so maybe that had something to do with it.
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@snowjewelz: This is me. I have an IT job and work from home about 95% of my time. Every now and then I'll have to go on a business trip. I mainly do support so as long as I have a Internet access and my PC I am ready to go. My 4 kiddos are all in daycare though. For their first months though I reduced my hours and WFH with them home. I worked while they napped. I worked about 16h a week. (We have parental leave policies here though so my income was substituted to 65% by the gov. in the first year of their lives).
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I'm an instructional designer. I create software training for other employees of my company. My job was a typical WOH office job for 6 years, then I started working from home full-time this year because we were reorganized under a different division that isn't in the same city. Since our new VP isn't in the office to see us, she doesn't care where we work.
Even when WOH, my job was really flexible. We started working from home 1 day a week, then 2 days a week, and now full-time. There are still times that I have to go into the office for certain meetings, to facilitate classes, to do audio recordings, etc., but the bulk of my work is now at home. My 3 year old is still in full-time daycare, otherwise she'd be trying to type on the computer the entire time I'd be trying to work. You've all seen the video of the kid busting in on his dad while he was trying to film a show? Yeah, that would be me all the time! But since my husband works long hours and odd days, being at home has made daycare pick up and drop off so much easier, and I'm able to work longer because I don't have to fight traffic!
Rather than trying to break into a new industry, I wonder if you could look for more flexible companies doing something related to your experience? It may be harder to figure out which companies are more likely to offer remote opportunities, but it seems it might be easier to land a job related to what you've done before.
@SupernovaJ: Also, are you in Atlanta? Because I am! I was born and raised in metro Atlanta, and now we live in the city.
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I'm a staff writer for a website based in NYC -- we have a team of about 15 and all of us are remote. Before I joined up full-time, I freelanced (writing/editing). As long as I hit deadlines and make conference calls I am pretty much free to call the shots on where and when to work.
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@SupernovaJ: Yes, a big chunk of my office works remote. I did work in the office a few days per week but then we moved out of state and I switched over to 100% remote. The way my company is set up everyone can work from home, as most of our work is through CRM.
@krispi: I'm in the Atlanta metro area, hi neighbor!
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@irene: I'm sorry, I never saw your response. We are in a quiet area in Bonaire ... Technically, it is 1-1/2 hours outside of ATL, but DH and I can make it in 60-75 mins on most days (* "Speed Racer" theme plays in the background.
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I work in publishing for a Big 4 accounting firm. I work at home 2-3 days a week, but a lot of people work solely at home, or 4 days a week...some people live 2 hours away from the office and only come in once a week.
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@tinyperson: I've heard that Big 4 can be flexible depending on the department. Obviously some areas have major busy seasons and crazy hours. I should look into it. Thanks so much for chiming it.
@krispi: And yes I am, me too!
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@SupernovaJ: I've WAH fulltime off and on for a few years but am currently working PT in an office. I'm an environmental scientist and work for a small consulting firm. For one 6 months stretch, I worked remotely while my husband studied in Paris and most of my clients had no idea I was not in the US--they were just confused why I was emailing them at 3am local time! One expressed concern about my boss's demands ha! I think there are a ton of flexible jobs out there so I echo what someone else said--don't worry about changing careers, just look for a company that is flexible or something you could transition to doing at home. But also to echo PPs... I think it's super unrealistic to WFM with kids at home unless you are working just a few hours/day. I SAH with DD2 2 days/week now and have maybe 1 hour to myself since I'm taking care of cooking/shopping/etc for the house. So unless you are Ok with working at night or sleeping less definitely still get childcare!
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@Kaohinani: OMG, I didn't come back to the post until just now and just saw your reply -- what a sweet photo, aww, thanks for sharing! It is still very surreal to me that people actually know and read the books
I was laughing aloud when you said if you don't test you can simultaneously be pregnant and not pregnant, gotta share that with my publisher, HAHAHA!!! 
@mrswilson2012: @krispi: Wow just noticed you guys are in Atlanta -- Me too! So many of us in one post, we need to party
Even when WOH, my job was really flexible. We started working from home 1 day a week, then 2 days a week, and now full-time. There are still times that I have to go into the office for certain meetings, to facilitate classes, to do audio recordings, etc., but the bulk of my work is now at home. 
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