The birth of my first child was more wonderful than I could have ever imagined but the day that I had to return to work was honestly the worst day of my life.
I cried and held on to my baby girl so tight that my husband had to pry her out of my arms to take her to my mother-in-law's home. Since my efforts to find a real work from home jobs were not successful, I had to return back to my outside job. Even though I was only working part time at first and I knew my daughter was in good hands being with her Grandmother, I cried all the way to work, the whole time at work, and the whole way home. This went on for weeks, and even my poor husband was starting to feel the same way. He said that he felt so bad for me that he was almost at the point of saying he would work three jobs if he had to in order to let me be home with her. It was just not financially possible for me to be a stay at home parent. Between the fertility treatments, pregnancy, birth and failed work from home attempts we were not able to live off of one income.
When my second baby was born my excitement was tinged with sadness because I knew how hard it was going to be to leave my baby with someone else while I went to work. Again, I searched again for work from home, thinking that maybe there would be something different out there this time. Again, I couldn’t find anything that would earn me a decent full time income and I believed I needed to go back to that outside job.
It was just as hard if not harder the second time around, because now I was not only leaving my new little baby in someone else’s hands, but also leaving my 22 month old.
I would have to pry my 22 month old off of me because she had gotten so used to mommy being home for 16 weeks. Yes, the maternity leave was twice as long the second time because I also had to have back surgery right after the baby was born. The only difference with returning to work this time was that I was going back to a job that I did truly love. I still cried for weeks.
Finally, I read a classified ad in a magazine about a work from home job selling insurance plans for people that don’t have health insurance. I was interested in that type of business because I have relatives that are uninsurable.
In only a couple of days I received my interview. When the representative called me I knew she was really working from home because I could hear her baby in the background. There was a start up cost to pay, but it was only $50.00. I had searched and tried so many others and paid way more than that. Then she went on to explain that I would get a training package that had marketing materials in it and then I would also get $50.00 in vouchers to send in for additional sales aids plus there were free ads and flyers and things on our training site that I could use without having to order more. She gave me her website and I went online as soon as I got off the phone with her and signed up. She sent me the link to the training site so that I could get started immediately, and then in about three days my training package came in the mail. I did not wait on my training package to come; I started my training as soon as I signed up and started working the next day. I had my first business on the books in no time at all and it only got better.
At the current time I’m waiting for the confirmation of my first promotion to be official.
In only a couple of months I was able to quit my outside job and work from home, for good! I work from home now full time, and do not have to leave my baby girls with anyone else unless I want to!
My days start off now with breakfast with my girls, checking emails while the kids play a little housework then playtime. I start work again after the girls go down for their naps and end when the wake up. After my husband comes home we all eat supper and then he gets to have some Daddy time with the girls while I put in another hour or so of work. We all take a walk or just spend some time outside together when I finish up, and then I put the girls to bed. Some days I do a little work on line after the girls are in bed and some days I just sit and spend quality time with my husband. I try and work only during the week, but sometimes that is not possible and I end up working an hour or two on the weekend. I would not go back to working outside the home though. It is work, but I know I am getting paid for what I do and not someone else. If I work at it I will be earning $100,000.00 or more in the next year and a half. The best thing about it is that I am earning a residual income therefore once I get to where I want to be I can stop working and keep earning that same income year after year. I can also will my income to my children so if something were to happen to me they can continue to receive my residual income without having to do anything for it. I also still have health care benefits for my entire household, a 401K, life insurance and discounts from many businesses.
Sometimes working from home has it’s struggles, but they are so few, and the good outweighs the bad 1000 to 1. It takes some time to figure out how to manage your time, and you can easily get tied up with household things and not work your business. Summertime is probably the hardest time to keep yourself on track. I find days when I just want to go and sit out by the pool and not do any work at all. The good thing is that I can now do that if I want. I just have to remember that I may have to work on Saturday or Sunday afternoon if I am going to do so. Things are so much more flexible and you have no one to answer to but yourself. If the kids are sick you can just take care of them and not worry about calling in sick and what the repercussions will be when you return to work. You have to make sure and let others know that just because you are home does not mean that you are not working.
If you are thinking about working from home and haven’t had the easiest time finding the right opportunity for yourself, don’t give up. You WILL find something that is perfect for you. Make sure that you research each opportunity that you think you may want to try because there are so many out there that will take your money and leave you with nothing but disappointment. Make sure the company offers you training and support because there will be days that the support is as important as the training.
GSK
