This past summer we went home to California for a visit. I found it very interesting that although my husband was asked about his job, the future with his job and all of that, hardly anyone asked me what I was doing. I guess from the outside we look like a pretty traditional family. Husband works full-time outside the house, wife stays home with the children. But that isn’t exactly how it works for us.
We have some big goals for the next few years. An ideal situation would be that I was making a full-time income from home and my husband would be the SAHD. Maybe he would get a part-time job but maybe not. We have a lot of details to work out before this can happen but it is our goal.
Because of that I am working hard to make an income from home. I am about 1/4th of where I need to be. I know if my husband was with the kids all day it would be easier for me to work so right now I do as much as I can. My husband is an amazing Dad. I knew this right away as I saw how he was with his little niece. He would make an amazing Stay at home Dad.
I still think the general public isn’t fully aware of what you can do online. That you really can make a full-time income from your home. That you don’t have to work a 9-5 job to make it work. That you can have the freedom of being your own boss in your own home. I am not sure that people really know that you can do this or that there are a lot of people who have already done this.
I never saw myself as having a career until recently. I have a college degree but have never used it. I have been a Mom for a while. I have been a “Mom who makes a little extra money” for a while. But in the last year I have taken things more seriously. I have looked at what I am doing as a career. A writing career. A home business career. I know I am not alone in this. I know there are other Moms and Dads who are working on this as well. They want to have a career from home. They want to be able to balance family and job a little better. They want more freedom than they have had in the past.
I hope that when my children go off to college that they know how many options they have. I wished I had known more about how to achieve income online after I graduated. It took me a while to find my first job and during that time I could have been working hard on an online business. But I can’t change the past. Just need to focus on the future and work towards my goals.
Have you found that people don’t take your online money-making work as seriously as they would a 9-5 job?
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Julie,
I am almost scared to tell them what I am up to. When I needed to tell my husband I was serious about working online it took me at least an hour to explain how I can earn money. He kept saying “so it’s a pyramid scam?” I would get so angry! I said, no, I need to build my readership of loyal readers and build myself as an influencer and then I can work with brands, etc. How is that hard to understand? Stars do it all the time, I just don’t have as much clout as they do. I’m on a smaller level.
Some day people will get it. My kids seem to understand what mom does better than many adults I know. So when it comes to our kids, they may already have the knowledge of how important social media and blogging are for our new world of tech.
Thanks!
~Allie
Allie recently posted..WAHM Online: Establishing Your Online Hubs
I just wish my family would take me seriously. The kids think I’m messing online and don’t realize it’s work. They see the time I put in, but they don’t see the money I earn.
Oh yes, and it annoys me that when I meet someone, no one ever asks me what I do.
It is scary to tell people what you do. If you don’t get that ever dreadful snicker (not the candy bar) you can expect a brush off, like what you do isn’t valid. At least in my experience.
I think us WAH’ers has to have thick skin and a positive point to keep our eye on, while we create the big picture.
There is so many scams out there. But we can’t let people get us down, there is real money and real rewards in what we do.
I loved this post!
Tabby
Tabitha Vos recently posted..G comes before F. Groundhog comes before Football.
This is something that is very true. People think that just because I am home all day that I do nothing. It makes me sick to my stomach. I feel as though work at home moms are probably the hardest working group of individuals. We not only work but while doing so we also keep the house tidy and take care of the kids – some even go to school and take care of pets. If that isn’t a full time job I don’t know what is.
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