What is a "Mom" job and how can I get one?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:For moms who just want a little extra money and something to do, I know quite a few who teach preschool (the 9-12 kind) while older kids are in school or substitute teach. They don't make much (probably comparable or less to the yoga post) but I think they find it satisfying to be working in some manner.

I have a decidedly not mom-job, with inflexible and unpredictable hours. Luckily I love my job and my husband has some flexibility!

It's 11:36 a.m. on a weekday and you're posting on DCUM, so your job can't be that onerous.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I work 8:30-1:00 Mon-Fri as a legal receptionist. It's not intellectual at all (I have a Master's degree from the London School of Economics) but at least it does let me be there to pick up my kids from school and be there for extracurriculars and homework. It also enables me to be around adults at least part of the day - I appreciate this quite a bit.

How did you find that job? That sounds perfect.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I work 8:30-1:00 Mon-Fri as a legal receptionist. It's not intellectual at all (I have a Master's degree from the London School of Economics) but at least it does let me be there to pick up my kids from school and be there for extracurriculars and homework. It also enables me to be around adults at least part of the day - I appreciate this quite a bit.

How did you find that job? That sounds perfect.

I agree. How did you find it? I have a Masters from Johns Hopkins and this sounds perfect to me. Seriously.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I work 8:30-1:00 Mon-Fri as a legal receptionist. It's not intellectual at all (I have a Master's degree from the London School of Economics) but at least it does let me be there to pick up my kids from school and be there for extracurriculars and homework. It also enables me to be around adults at least part of the day - I appreciate this quite a bit.

How did you find that job? That sounds perfect.

Well, one of the attorneys had kids who went to the school at which my mom was a teacher. We have known the family for years. One time, the dad mentioned to my dad at church, "I know your daughters would be over-qualified for this, but would anyone be interested in ____? We are looking for a receptionist." My dad knew I was looking to "downsize" from my previous "real job" and mentioned me. It actually started out as full-time, and I did it full-time for a few years (with my 1st child in fulltime daycare) but when she was moving to K, I looked ahead and thought I'd want to be home more as she got older and in real school, so I could be home for homework and extracurriculars. I proposed a job-share arrangement, having already found a girl who would want to share the afternoon hours. My boss agreed to try it on a trial basis and it's worked out for about 3 years now. So, I kind of just created it. :/

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I work 32 hours a week, and am a manager of a department at my company and have a lot of responsibility as well as high visibility projects. I have a lot of flexibility now, but I have been at this company for over 10 years and more than paid my dues before having kids. Nobody questions my work ethic when I walk out the door at 3:30 every day. I consider it a perfect mom job.

I used to have this, and it was great. Very balanced. The downside was lower pay and no benefits, since they felt that giving me time flexibility was such a big bonus. I see that a lot in companies. Sad, because a lot of us who work this way are twice as productive and do super work.

I currently have a crappy mom job not in my field. It's tormentingly dull, extremely low paying, zero benefits, but I set my own hours. Hate it, but sometimes you take what you can get.

I work 32 hours a week as well, and have had a similar sentiment insinuated to me. So ridiculous. Otherwise, I love my mom job.

[Anonymous]

sales or client engagement that can be done remotely. Meaning a few meetings here and there, answering emails etc...

[Anonymous]

I work 32 hours a week, and am a manager of a department at my company and have a lot of responsibility as well as high visibility projects. I have a lot of flexibility now, but I have been at this company for over 10 years and more than paid my dues before having kids. Nobody questions my work ethic when I walk out the door at 3:30 every day. I consider it a perfect mom job.

I've been able to create something more mom-friendly in an otherwise demanding environment by having been in the same job for years before having kids. I know my clients, my boss and my work well, so I know what types of projects I can handle and what I should turn down. It's not the best for career progression, but when people ask me for advice, I always tell them to not change jobs too much once they have kids. Stability and knowing my job leaves me much more time to be a mom.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It depends if you are willing to take a pay cut as these tend to be PT or flex time.

I think that's pretty much the definition of a Mom job.

If you're working 50 hours a week at a job that is challenging and interesting and pays well and furthers your career. That's not a "Mom job". It's a job that happens to be held by a mom. When you sacrifice one or more of those things, in order to spend more time with or have more flexibility for your kids, then that's a "Mom job", unless you're male, then it's a "Dad job".

I used to have a job in education that was very demanding, and involved long hours, supervising people, etc . . . I quit and taught half day preschool when my twins were in K. I had all their vacations off, and was home in time to meet the school bus, and I cut my pay in half. Teaching preschool was a Mom job for me. On the other hand, there are people I know who teach preschool in full day special ed programs in urban environments. They don't have Mom jobs, whether or not they're moms.

[Anonymous]

moving from programs (customer engagement, execution, business development) into operations. I work with programs on developing bids and proposals. There are busy times, but overall great flexibility and reduced hours. But I hate it, but it's hard to think of going back into intense work.

[Anonymous]

The lawyer we use does this I think. SHe has her own practice, and works until her kids get home, then spends time with them, then starts up again after that. I know this because I do similar (I'm a business owner but WFH) and we often exchange emails at midnight since we're both working then.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think most telecommute jobs or flexible schedule jobs can be considered "mom" jobs. I work 7:30 to 3:30, I am home by 4:00, I consider mine a mom job.

That's only 8 hours? Don't you have to work 8.5?

[Anonymous]

No, I don't have to work 8hrs30mins. All exempt employees at our organization are expected to work 8hrs, also, I don't take any lunch break.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think most telecommute jobs or flexible schedule jobs can be considered "mom" jobs. I work 7:30 to 3:30, I am home by 4:00, I consider mine a mom job.

That's only 8 hours? Don't you have to work 8.5?

Not the pp, but some companies actually pay you for lunch. Not mine, although my office hours are 7am-3pm and I put in the extra half hour at home monitoring emails, etc.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I teach yoga. Help others, bring in some income (about 20k/year, which we didn't need so is used for more extravagant vacations and extra community giving) and get to do something I love while my kids are in school. Fun mom job.

What does that come out to, $12,000 a year after taxes?

Haven't broken it out. Maybe? That's 12k that we wouldn't have had though - and I get to volunteer in our women's prison system, kids schools, DV shelter etc. I suppose I could sit on my ass and do nothing but I like this and it betters my community. It's a job and I'm a mom - was there a minimum to post here that I wasn't aware of?

Uh, calm down. Maybe pp is asking because they are considering a job with similar salary.

[Anonymous]

I posted in the other thread about my mom job. I work for a private company, working from home a majority of the time. Technically I am supposed to work 40 hrs/week (or more I suppose could be required since I am "exempt"), but I don't clock in or out. I make sure I'm reachable 9-5 but I get my work done in usually 30-35 hrs/week.

Having a mom job is pretty great. I wake my kids up, get them ready, we have breakfast as a family, I make lunches then send my family out the door, and then get myself ready for the day. Then I pick kids up at 5, get dinner ready, when DH comes home we have dinner as a family, hang out some more. I can do laundry and dinner prep during the day when I'm at home as well as take time for errands, arts and crafts type stuff like valentines and birthday stuff, etc. I can also get to the gym during the day (or waste time on DCUM as is the case today). Because I can do so many little chores during the day like laundry, my husband only has to be responsible for his own set of "chores" around the house during the week and we can spend weekends doing fun stuff.

My job is just eh. I do great work and get great reviews, but it's not the most exciting or fulfilling work. It's certainly below my experience level, but I realize that if, career-wise, I want to "live up to my potential" I will be in a managerial position where I have a lot more I'm responsible for.

Working from home is also just eh. I would prefer to see people in person besides my family every day, but the lack of commute (and lack of time spent chit chatting in an office) is really what frees me up to do laundry and dinner prep and make Halloween costumes.