What options does a mom that has just had a baby have?- work at the office
- quit current job
- work part-time

- work from home
- stay at home

Reasons You Might Decide to:- Work at the office- There is a certain self-esteem that comes with working and making money, not to mention you’ll get to make adult friends and talk about something besides dirty diapers and cartoons. Believe it or not having deadlines and meeting them can make a person feel great about themselves. For those that were already in the workforce before having a child it may be harder to stop working, depending on how high up they’d made their career.

- Quitting Your Job- If you already know you aren’t going to go back, you should really let the boss know when you’ve decided this, that way they can find a replacement fast. Sometimes a mom decides she just can’t bare to be away from her new child. Other times a mom may look at how stressful her job is or has become and decide if it is really worth the effort. Always make sure you have a source of income that’ll cover your monthly expenses before doing this.

- Working part-time- A mom may decide to cut back on her hours that she currently has in order to spend quality time with her family. Or a mom may decide that she just has to get away from the house for a few hours a day for her own sanity, a part-time job is the perfect stepping stone. This way she’ll know if she wants to continue up the chain or not and she’ll get to meet others.

- work from home- It is sometimes possible to work from home with your current job, so you may want to look into this before you decide what you want to do with your career plans. Working from home can also be done from the internet, day care or a home business. The best part of this is a mom can do both, spend time with her children while earning money for the house.

- stay at home- Sometimes a mom just want to spend time with her children and play with them. She may and may not want to work, or isn’t completely sure yet. Staying home will allow her to find herself and get to know her children, course this also means she’ll be able to join the PTA, drive kids to about 4 different sporting events, dinner on the table by 5, playdates and so many others.

Cons:

- Your children are sure to hassle you, if not someone in the family will because you’d rather spend your time at work then with your child. Or you’ll be dealing with stress because you have to make deadlines and will miss your child’s first word, steps, etc.

- Quitting your job, are you nuts? Do you have enough money in the bank to do this? What do you do when you need the extra income for that hospital bill or dentists? Or you find out you were up for promotion coming soon.

- Driving back and forth may now become a hassle, plus what happens when you are already working a shift and someone doesn’t come in to relieve you. What about never seeing the spouse as your times aren’t coordinating with each other?

- Ummm, have you ever tried having a business conference online when you have sick children at home, or your child just wakes up for a nap? Now imagine deadlines.

- While you may enjoy being home, sometimes that is all you do, especially during the colder months. Are you ready to be a hermit? Deal with the gossipy neighbors and trivial issues that happen on the street?

Deciding what you want to do with your career is a big decision, make sure you really sit down and think about what you want to do. Make a pro and con list for yourself and decide what is best for you and for your family. This is one of those things you could possibly regret later on in life if you make the wrong decision. Good luck.

Post from: Babylune

True, I still have to work in my home office, but that means I save 2 hours of commuting time and all those other “getting out of the house” routines.

My plans for the extra hours are ambitious:

- Put away laundry

- Take a cuddle nap with the baby

- Do entire yoga routine

The fact that I never managed to do any of those things when I worked from home all the time seems completely irrelevant. I think my productivity has been kicked into high gear. I hope I am not being too ambitious.

Post from: Babylune

My life, today, would have been a lot easier if I’d hired a babysitter for four hours instead of working with constant interruptions for more than 12 hours.

When will I ever learn?

Post from: Babylune

People are always asking me: What is the secret of your average success, Kate? How do you manage to write a blog while caring for two children, and balancing a tepid career as a freelance writer on top of it all?

I am not one to keep secrets to myself. Follow my plan and you too can enjoy the heights of literary-journalistic mediocrity. Basically, you need to be able to type with two hands. That may not seem like a benefit to those of you reading this with a baby in your lap, but the reading experience wouldn’t be as good if I could use neither capital letters nor punctuation.

I owe it all to the Excersaucer. My baby does not have the model depicted above (image link courtesy of Amazon), but an older version handed-down from her brother. In fact, before it belonged him, it belonged to a family who moved back to the US from Germany. Durability, though, is not the main benefit of this toy.

No. The main benefit of the Excersaucer is that it keeps the baby entertained for 30 minutes, upon completion of which she is tired enough to nurse for five minutes and then sleep for 75 to 90 minutes. During that 75 to 90 minutes I am able to maintain one train of thought! For a good hour, my typing gathers steam and I whistle out as many words as I can. And, if I keep a note of where I was and what I was thinking, then I can reboard that train of thought where I left off after the next interruption.

Pardon all the bad steam engine metaphors. I am equally dependent on Thomas and Friends to keep my three year-old busy if I don’t finish my assignments by the time he comes home from preschool.

At least I don’t stick them in front of the TV, I was going to say in my defense. But, alas, I do that too.

Post from: Babylune