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Kids Heading to School?
Fill the Time by Fulfilling Your Dreams
By Jenn Director Knudsen
, a women's networking organization, she is ramping up for full-time work. "I will be ready to go come September," Danielson says.
Hammond did a similar exercise – she kept "dozens" of journals. Some entries simply were collages, and others were news clippings on topics of interest to her. Rather than gluing these clippings into her diaries, she shoved them haphazardly into their pages.
Once her children were about to enter kindergarten and fourth grade, she took the time to delve back into her (admittedly messy) journals. Time and again, one key theme emerged: empowering women. "And that will be true of everyone – there will be a theme," she says.
With her theme as inspiration, Hammond founded Femail Creations in 1996, a unique catalog and Web site that supports hundreds of women artists and business owners by selling their handcrafted creations.
In her pre-children life, Ludwig of Portland, Ore., was a copywriter at an ad agency and also a freelance writer of brochures, direct mail, newsletters and magazines for international clients. She continued the freelance work into motherhood, despite the long and odd hours she clocked to keep her foot in the proverbial door.
"On the whole, I didn't work many hours per week – maybe 10 to 15 max – as I considered myself to be a part-time writer and a full-time mommy," says Ludwig, mother of Allison "Allie" Long, 11, and Bennett Long, 7.
"[T]he life of a freelancer is one of either feast or famine," Ludwig says. She didn't want to turn down assignments to jeopardize her reputation. "On those occasions, my days were long and my nights were even longer."
But it was worth it, as was constantly reflecting on the work she hoped to do once her child-rearing schedule let up a bit. "I wanted to create a legacy for my children and other children, as well." Ledwig says. "So I focused my energies on writing children's books instead of marketing someone's widget. By the time Allie and Bennett were in elementary school, I had more time to concentrate on writing and marketing my work."
Today, Ludwig is the author of three picture books: My Secret Bully (Riverwood Press, 2004), Just Kidding (Tricycle Press, available spring 2006) and Sorry!