What do you do - as a WAHP??

mysweetpeasWil&Wes wrote: I'm thinking of starting work again and wondering what type of work some of you parents do at home. I need help! I used to be an events coordinator which included a lot of marketing work, but events take a lot of work, physically, out of the office (out of the home). And I'm not ready to go back full time. So I'm wondering what I can do from home p/t so that I can still watch Wil. I love being a SAHM, but another paycheck would help. I've had friends tell me about jobs like "host a party" jobs, but I can't get myself to ask friends and family to buy stuff. It's just not me. My last job was so creative, so it's hard to imagine entering data, but if it allows me to stay home, I suppose I'm up for anything. Any advice?? Where do you look??...all the stay at home jobs seem like scams these days!!!!

kit_kats_mom replied: check http://www.wahm.com/

tons of good info there. Ivilllage also has a wahm message board.
I manage a database for a national consulting firm.

jcc64 replied: I'm a textile designer for a NYC home furnishings design studio. I work at home 3 days, commute to NY 2 days. It's a really fun job, but one that requires pretty specific training/skills.

Alice replied: I read your post last night, and this occurred to me at about 4 am:

When I was in elementary school, there was a neighborhood man who ran all the school field trips. You could do something like that:

Come up with a proposal for assorted grade levels. Contact the museum, firestation, etc. Arrange transportation (if out of district or for a private/Catholic school) Figure out lunch arrangements. Make up the itinerary.... Stuff you're already good at. I bet the schools would love to have someone else in charge. And you could take the time to find some that are a bit different from the trips they're doing now, since this would be your primary focus, not another "thing to do" when a teacher gets home from work. You could probably get cheaper group prices.... you know the drill. You would end up chaperoning each of the trips, but that would be the only time you had to have extended time out of the house; the rest you could take the baby with you.

I would start first with the private &/or CAtholic schools, since there's much less red tape: a Principal and pastor usually. You could spend the next week or two coming up with sample ideas, then present them before school closes. Then you could finalize things over the summer.

Anyway, just an idea. Let me know what you think!

Alice replied: Sorry, more of the same:

You could do the same thing with your local Senior Citizens Center (they're all over the place-- start with the phone book or your local Senior Affairs Office.) You could plan trips for them; my in-laws are in a center that has trips all the time. You would have to be on the lookout for places offering: a) a minimum of walking, or at least lots of stop-and-sit places (a casino for example- you could walk or plop down at a slot machine) a fairly cheap meal that can cater to special diets- low sodium, heart healthy, etc.


You could contact your local parish and see if they want you to do fundraising: a golf open, a carnival etc. It would be a tremendous amount of work, but you would make your own hours: only take on the projects-- or number of parishes-- that you're comfortable with. And, again, it would be your field; something you're already good at and comfortable with.

I forgot to add in my previous post: I mentioned chaperoning. I don't know how familiar you are with school trips; I've chaperoned a zillion of them. You would NOT be the only chaperone!! You would just be the coordinator. And we could talk about permission slips and overnight trips and so on if you're interested. Let me know.

Hope some of this helps!!

mysweetpeasWil&Wes replied:
Well first of all, thanks for staying up late and thinking about this!! I've had a couple early early mornings myself lately too! I think this is a GREAT idea!!!!! I've never done much fundraising, but I am excellent with detail and would love to plan trips for kids. I live in a community where there is literally a school and/or church on just about every corner, so that's PERFECT! I like the idea that I can most likely take my son with me on any outings. So thank you thank you so much for really putting so much thought into this. I now have a lot of brainstorming to do!!!!!!!! I'll let you know if I have any questions...as for now, you have my mind moving and that feels great!! THANKS a bunch for your awesome suggestions.

Do you suggest making this into my own business? I can talk to my DH about it. He has his degree in business and may know whether I should make this a business so that I can expense things, etc.

YAY!!!!!!! I really really love your idea...I just love planning events...I was also thinking maybe getting into planning birthday parties. I suppose any event can be planned from home, but my last events (concerts, festivals) required me to be there like 24/7...70+ hours. So done with that! THANKS

Alice replied: You're welcome!!

As much as I would love to play the martyr and pretend I stayed up all night thinking about it, that just isn't true. I was beat, and conked out at like 8:15 pm. So by 4 I was starting to come to, and I remembered Mr. Slef and the trips he used to plan.

We live about 45 minutes from NYC, and when I hit high school and met other kids, I was amazed at the number of them who had never seen the Empire State Building or the Statue of Liberty. I guess their elementary school didn't have a Mr. Slef.

While I know nothing about it, yes, I would suggest making it into your own business. You could start small and then build it up. The thing is, you're already good at coordinating events; this is just a new twist. And you could do most of the startup work online when Will is sleeping; find places and group rates; look into the cost of renting busses, etc. (Keep in mind that schools will be much more receptive to a trip that has an educational focus. Some of the ones I remember-- again, from Long Island-- included the ones mentioned above, a Williamsburg-style village restoration, a 7th grade to Albany (NY State capital) and an 8th grade overnighter to Washington DC.)

Anyway, I'm glad I could help. This sounds like fun-- enjoy it!

mysweetpeasWil&Wes replied: Alice, thanks again for putting so much thought into this. I'm wondering, do you think I need some early childhood education courses under my belt? Just something to know what type of curriculm each grade is doing? I wonder if I could pick up some books from the library or just research online. I only have an 8 month old and was an art major in college, so I don't know the slightest about education. Not to be devils advocate, but don't you think a lot of parents would volunteer to help their kids schools? I'm just worried that most of the schools aren't willing to PAY someone who isn't an active parent of their school. Maybe I'm wrong. It doesn't hurt to ask!!

You really got me thinking...THANKS

Alice replied: As to education courses, I don't think they're necessary. The trips don't have to coincide with the curriculum, just be educational in nature: a trip to the children's museum as opposed to a six flags park.

I was thinking last night, toying with the idea of doing this myself. I think I would go online and find a list of everything child-oriented in a 2 hour radius. Look up things like "tourism with children", "children's performances", "children's nature study", "museums for children", etc. For each site, look into group rates. Get a bunch of brochures. Contact someone there, tell them what you're doing, and ask for tips: do they have any special children's projects you could plan, would they include an adult admission for every 8 or 10 kids, where could the kids eat, etc. Then contact some of the bus lines: Harran etc, fill them in and ask for ballpark rates to some of the places you're interested in. (You want to pay for a bus with a bathroom- I don't know if it's extra for any sort of a long trip. ) Come up with a ballpark price for each trip. Then work up a portfolio you can present to the Principal. She could pick and choose which trips she wanted and for which grades.

About your parent question: You could build your fee into the cost per child or charge the school a lump sum for each trip. So the parents wouldn't be handing you money; it would be incorporated into the cost on the flyer that goes home.

As to chaperones, as the kids get older, more parents tend to go back to work. But at those ages you need fewer chaperones anyway. When you send home a flyer from the school announcing the trip, you include a line about how the trip can only happen if you get a particular number of chaperones to ensure the safety of their kids. Chaperones can be parents, grandparents, aunts & uncles... When Brian's Kindergarten class went pumpkin picking last year, there were only 2 parents who could NOT come; most of us just chaperoned our own kids. So if that's any indication, it won't be a problem.

If you get the chance, PM me with where you live-- town and state. I'll show you some of the ideas I would use.

This does sound like fun. I wonder if I have the time and energy to try it myself??

Alice replied: Rae,

Making any progress?

Tamatha replied: I just stumbled across this thread, but I would seriously suggest that you look into making this a business. You'll be doing something along the lines of consulting and event planning all rolled into one, and there are things you should probably consider like having proper insurance coverage in place in case something goes wrong on a trip. I don't mean to sound pessimistic, but there's not much worse in this world than dealing with an irate parent on the hunt for someone to blame for why Johnny came home with a scraped knee or a broken arm. Even if Johnny was swinging from the rafters and caused his own injuries. You'll want to have all of the proper protection in place for yourself. Also, if you make this an actual business, you can print up letter head, business cards, etc... and when you're ready to expand the business, you already have that in place. There are quite a few advantages to making it an actual business versus just something you do on the side... If you are really serious about pursuing this, you should see if there are any attorneys nearby who will do a free or low-cost consultation regarding the advantages of setting up a small business. ooooooh... another thing just occurred to me... you would be considered a small/disadvantaged/women-owned business, and that might qualify for special assistance from the government! Again, that would need some investigation...

All in all, I think this is a really neat idea, and I say go for it!!

mysweetpeasWil&Wes replied: Thanks Alice and Tam! I've been thinking a lot about it lately. I went to the library earlier in the week and checked out a few books on starting your own business from home. I'm not sure how deep I want to get into it right now. Wil is only 8 mos, and although it may be easier now than when he becomes a moving toddler, I just feel like I need to focus on him. I really want to keep something part-time and I'm only worried that a business such as this, especially to get it going, will be full-time. But the ideas are definitely moving in my head, thanks to you Alice!! And overall, any type of event consulting would work well for me. I think it may be best I start to volunteer so that I can get comfortable with events and attractions around town...still fairly new here. Need to learn the schools as well. I also have my BA in Art, so I'm also thinking about making nursery paintings. Like the ones you see at Pottery Barn kids, but for much less cost. Maybe lamp shades or something along that line too. This way I can do it on my free time, not around someone else's schedule. And like Tam said, I don't necessarily have to deal with mean parents...well hopefully not. I guess I'm just at the point where I REALLY want to do something, but nothing that is too service oriented, and I don't want to work my little arss off to just make a dime. Schools are cheap, but like any type of event planning, I give 100% and get little return. Yep, I guess I'm pessimistic too, sorry, but I want it to be more of a hobby that I can make a little extra cash from and not have to stress over the details. You know what I mean??

I'll keep you posted. Alice, I hope you get this started yourself. It is really a great idea! I'm just thinking more and more about why I decided to be a SAHM and coming to grips with it all. The transition has been rough, but every day it gets better.

Alice replied: I've decided against doing it. It sounds like fun, but right now my plate is kind of full:
3 kids
Pres. of the Parent's board of nursery school
tutoring-- 12-15 kids a week now, going up as June approaches
volunteer work greeting Korean infant adoptees at airport
and I want to be class mom for Brian next year, as well as getting involved, at least a little, in his school's PTA.

So anything else is just begging for trouble!! But it does sound like fun, and something that people could make a success of. Anyone else interested?

Tamatha replied: I am about to make the same transition you are talking about--my last day on the job is June 24, baby due July 28. Then I will be officially unemployed! It wasn't an easy decision to make, but I know it was the right one.

However, I'm already thinking about options for working from home if I get to the point where I'm going nutso! Have you ever heard of something called KinderMusik? It is a really awesome music program for children age infant to kindergarten, and it is something I could keep my baby with me to do. I have a music degree and I did an internship with my university's KinderMusik program, so I have lots of exposure to the curriculum and everything. So this is something I'm seriously contemplating starting up. There's only one other teacher in my area, and she's booked completely full! So I think there's probably even a decent market for it.

There are so many options out there if you are creative, and like you said, I want to do something that doesn't FEEL like work! Something that just comes naturally, that I enjoy, and where I can still spend PLENTY of time with my little one.

Just keep brainstorming, and you'll hit on exactly the right thing for you. (And keep us posted! )

mysweetpeasWil&Wes replied: Yes, I was going to try KinderMusik with Wil...not teach it, but join. We joined My Gym instead because it's a little more active. I think it's a great idea if your area isn't too saturated with other groups. My area has a ton!

Good luck...staying at home is a wonderful job! People forget that you really ARE working 24/7. So never consider yourself unemployed one bit! Even the days you don't have much planned, you're still on call with the baby. Hope your L&D go great...keep us posted!

And Alice, boy you are one busy mommy!!