Wahm Work at Home Mom

Working With The Drawbacks
by Melissa Olivero
http://www.melsatticimages.com/

No matter what you do in life, there are going to be pluses and minuses. You will not find that cliché any different in your WAHM life. You need to be aware of the faults too before jumping in.

1. If you have minimal self-discipline, you must either learn it now or you will fail. There will be no boss behind you being your cheerleader or slave driver. There is no time clock to punch in and out of and no official lunch hours.

2. Lack of adult conversation is a big one for a lot of people. You will need to create new outlets for yourself because you need exposure to people to some degree to keep fresh and gain new perspectives. Join a gym that offers child care or start attending a local mother's club like The MOM's Club. Both you and your children will benefit from it. You can always find like minded communities online. Visit Yahoo Groups and find mailing lists with hundreds of other women creating new business lives at home.

3. You can go to work in your p.j.'s. Yes, to some it is a benefit but in reality it isn't. You cannot become truly motivated to do anything if you stay in your night clothes all day. You must push yourself to get yourself up and dressed. Don't forget your makeup. Once you stop going to an outside job every day, it can become difficult some days to remember you are more than just a mom.

4. It's all on you. Yes, your spouse should be there to support you in this venture as the rest of your family and friends. This is your deal though. There will not be anyone to throw blame on or give the grunt work to.

5. There will be people who will not take you or your work seriously. They will belittle what you are trying to do or blow it off as unimportant. You will receive calls asking you to run this errand or do this activity simply because the mentality is that there is no real work you can do at home. The only ways to combat these old-fashioned and out of touch attitudes is to -- A. Associate as little as possible with anyone who is not supportive of you and B. During your working hours -- shut off your phone and let the machine answer it.

Once you realize what you may be up against, you will be better prepared in dealing with whatever comes your way. You can make any drawback become a benefit with the right perspective and learning to work with it instead of against it.