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Moms At Work

The Work-at-Home Option -- Is It for You?

By Mary Dixon Weidler

-- Invest in voice mail or a good answering machine to assure that your business phone is answered promptly and in a professional manner. If you're spending time with the kids, turn off the ringer on the phone and allow the clients to leave messages. Then, when the children are napping and household noises are a minimum, return the calls. Clients pay professionals -- and there's nothing professional about discussing your next project while a little one cries for chocolate milk in the background.

-- Working at home is often lonely. You may miss working with adults, discussing the events of the day, strategizing about different solutions to problems. Establish a support network before you dive into the work-at-home situation. Seek out professional organizations or Internet "working women" communities and become active with them. Sometimes the only thing between you and total insanity is two words -- "I understand." Seek out those who do.

Despite the drawbacks, working at home can be extremely rewarding, if you establish yourself as a professional who comes through for the customer (despite the grape jelly stain on your sweatshirt!). "My writing allows me a very special privilege: to be the main person caring for my children, the first to kiss a boo-boo, the last to say goodnight, the first to hand them a cookie," says Kawa Jump.

"Of course, not everything is handmade and most dinners are from a Crock Pot to give me more time, but when they are here, I am here, too," she says.

Part four of this series covers childcare, work schedules and making returning to work a smooth transition for you and your family.

Want to see more?

• Moms At Work Part One: Is Returning to Work Right for You?
• Moms At Work Part Two: The Art of Interviewing
• Work-At-Home Moms Discussion Board
• The Crock Pot: A New Mom's Best Friend