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

[Anonymous]

I work as a legal secretary part time. 9:30 - 2:30 Monday through Thursday. If there's a field trip on a Tuesday my attorneys are cool with letting me make up those hours on a Friday.

I feel like this is the perfect amount of work for me. Enough that I'm still in the work force, but I'm home for the kids after school and have plenty of time for dr appts and errands and nice dinners. We use my salary for things like extra curriculars, vacations, etc.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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.

Damn. I'd love to not have to take a lunch. We don't have time for lunches, but still don't get paid for that 1/2 hour. lame. That 1/2 hour would make a huge difference in commute times.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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.

PP here. Yes, the pay is lower in that I receive 80% of what would be "full time" pay and leave accruals, but that's fair, since I only work 80% of the hours (with the occasional exception for big projects). But I do have benefits, and the company I work for truly cares about their employees' well being, not just their job performance. I know it is not like that in all (or even most) companies, but there are some good ones out there. I try not to take advantage of my flexibility tough, and often offer to help out or fill in for others as needed, or complete a few tasks from home in the evenings if necessary (but that is the exception, not the norm, and certainly not the expectation). The downside for me is that I have less time for professional development, and when the topic of promotion to a more demanding position comes up I tend to shy away from pursuing it because I don't want the added demand on my time.

[Anonymous]

Very flexible, tiny nonprofit. Make a decent salary (90k) but no benefits. Work from home one day a week and pretty much come and go as I please (boss works completely remotely).

[Anonymous]

Work for a non-profit 30hrs/week (basically just school hours), mostly from home. Pay is $50k, work is challenging and in my field, and I've been steadily advancing. It's great for work/life balance, but I wish I could find something that paid better.

[Anonymous]

My job allows me to work from home 4 days a week. We have plenty of men and childless people who take advantage of this as well so I wouldn't call it a mom job. And I make $100k as well.

I focused heavily on jobs that have telecommuting. I have another friend that does call center type work and she works 100% from home.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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.

Maybe she should do some yoga.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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.

Maybe she should do some yoga.

Or maybe she correctly picked up on the way you tried to diminish her contribution to her family. Were you angry because you hadn't seen your kids all week/month/year? Yoga can help with anger, I've read. But then again, you probably have such an important job BIGLAW job like every WOHM on DCUM that you wouldn't have time for that, now, would you.

[Anonymous]

Why are we calling these "mom" jobs? Because dads don't care enough about spending time with kids to demand a flex-time job?

[Anonymous]

I have a 40 hour/week job as a corporate paralegal. I consider it a mom job in that there is no travel and little expectation of overtime. Nice and regular with good benefits and flexibility to work from home on snow days or sick-kid days. It meet my work/life balance needs even if the work is a bit repetitive. However, life in a corporate law department is full of interesting events.

[Anonymous]

In another thread, someone mentioned their "mom job" and how happy it made them. What exactly is a mom job and where would I look to find one? I'm currently in a job I hate, with zero time for my kids and husband (not to mention me). I am desperate to make some changes so that I can actually stop shortchanging my kids, but I'm not sure how to go about this. Any thoughts? TIA.

To go back to the original post, the OP sounds fried. She mentions having zero time for her kids, husband, or self. Her kids are (admittedly) shortchanged.

Most studies reveal that in dual working households the majority of "domestic" tasks continue to fall on the woman. Many women feel resentful, exhausted, and unappreciated. Less men feel that way.

Hence, the desire for a more workable life/work balance balance from many working Moms, because no matter how many amazing tales we will hear here in the following posts about equal domestic partnerships and co-parenting, stats reveal that it simply isn't the norm. So, Dad's aren't clamoring for jobs that save their sanity and stop shortchanging their kids at the same rate women are. It's simply a sad reality of many a dual working family.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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.

Maybe she should do some yoga.

Or maybe she correctly picked up on the way you tried to diminish her contribution to her family. Were you angry because you hadn't seen your kids all week/month/year? Yoga can help with anger, I've read. But then again, you probably have such an important job BIGLAW job like every WOHM on DCUM that you wouldn't have time for that, now, would you.

Only you and the yoga instructor seem angry. You both need to relax.

[Anonymous]

This thread is way more informative than I expected (for the most part). I thought it was going to be all Scentsy and Younique and Mary Kay and Nerium and all those MLMs, and photography businesses.

Thanks for the ideas. Today I am feeling especially battered and frustrated by my decidedly non-mom-job, that could easily be more mom-friendly if my boss didn't have such a stick up his butt.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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.

I didn't stay "onerous", I said "inflexible and unpredictable hours".

[Anonymous]

A PP mentioned they looked specifically for jobs that offered telecommuting. How does one do this?